Comments on: Why Paying Attention to The Fold is Stupid

By: Jay Kerr

Jay Kerr — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 14:49:02 +0000

Great article. The more articles like this the more we can tell our clients that their unfounded assumptions are stupid. Thanks!

By: Joel Falconer

Joel Falconer — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 01:19:47 +0000

I don’t know if any web technology specifications have really codified the word, though they may have, but my understanding is that it is what you see of the canvas at any given moment. Not necessarily the first thing you see when you load the page, but including that and any other view you might scroll to, and excluding anything on the page but outside of the current view.

With responsive design fast becoming a standard web design process this term has given us a concept that has replaced much of the focus on browser windows and designing to specific resolutions, and instead creating designs that reshape themselves to suit any given viewport.

By: Lifeboatb

Lifeboatb — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:55:32 +0000

This is the first time I’ve come across the word “viewport,” and after reading the above posts that use it, I still don’t know what it means. Does it mean the area that the viewer sees when they first encounter the web page, or the entire “browser canvas,” which I assume includes the areas you have to scroll to see?

From an English-major perspective, it’s a vague word: I’m unclear on whether “port” refers to a resting place, or the idea of “carrying” the “view.”

By: John Pendleton

John Pendleton — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:11:36 +0000

As an old designer who came up in newspapers, a figurative child of Woodward & Bernstein, I have to take exception to the word “stupid” when referring to newspaper nomenclature. We are in an era when all of these journalistic concepts are in real danger, like prioritizing the most vital content, otherwise known as placing it “above the fold.” If you go too literal on any one of these terms, they of course look antique and obsolete. But soon to follow will be the already threatened basic terms of the craft such as “editing,” spelling,” and “facts.” All your fancy new media options may make everything look very fast and easy — actually treating them as such makes your output sound “stupid.”
And I spent a summer in Viewport once — too many damn mosquitoes.

By: Keith Nelson

Keith Nelson — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:16:49 +0000

My first thought when I read the headline was “Yeah, it’s an obsolete term, like the continued use of ‘upper case’ and ‘lower case’.” The upper case and lower case became obsolete in the mid 1800s.

By: Joel Falconer

Joel Falconer — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 00:52:28 +0000

It’s pretty much the standard term for the browser canvas across devices now.

By: Why Paying Attention to The Fold is Stupid « « Designvent LimitedDesignvent Limited

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 16:36:01 +0000

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By: Corey

Corey — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 16:30:07 +0000

Article was enjoyed thoroughly. Love the humor “Whew! Glad you made it. This is below the fold and I was a little worried.”

By: Jon Arnett

Jon Arnett — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 15:25:49 +0000

I agree, and I disagree. “The Fold” matters depending on context — it’s never stupid. As designers, we must always consider what our users see/read/interact with first. This is basic information design. So in this context, yes, the fold — as dynamic as it may be — matters. In the matter of this (annoying) context: “put it above the fold because users won’t see it …” or “users won’t know what to do or where to go next” … or “my stuff is just as important”, then yes, the fold-as-justification just simply breaks down for all the great reasons above. Consider this: designers of information and interaction, if skilled, can take a user through any digital medium with ease satisfying all our requirements — and blow away their team (and end users) in the process. It will always be our job to help our team understand the new ways in which users move through digital spaces. But if you use the screen real estate masterfully, you won’t have these types of arguments with your content and marketing partners in the first place. The design will stand on its own. All designers need to consider context, content, purpose and desired outcome to derive an appropriate solution.

By: Tee

Tee — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 12:23:37 +0000

Viewport … Really?

By: Jimi Knightley

Jimi Knightley — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 10:03:24 +0000

Here’s a thought. Try turning a product page upside down so it starts with upsell, related products and ratings & reviews. At the bottom of the page we find the product image, title, description and at the very bottom, the Ad to Cart button. Would this page still have the same conversion rate than a regular page? I wouldn’t bet on it. The question about if we should design for the fold/size of the viewport is not so much about visitors scrolling or not – because they do if they are forced to – but more about how easy it is for them to find information and figure out what to do next. We should always prioritize the information structure to show the most important elements above the fold/viewport.

By: Jeff at Huemor

Jeff at Huemor — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 19:47:44 +0000

The variation in screen size, the increasing numbers over mobile users (soon to overtake traditional web users) tablets all pose challenges to the current web designer / developer. I do agree that this concept of ‘above the fold’ is becoming less and less relevant simply because there’s too many devices with various different folds.

Just my $.02 ;D

By: Joel Falconer

Joel Falconer — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 04:28:10 +0000

Thanks for spotting that, Mike. Fixed it!

By: Mike Wilson

Mike Wilson — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:38:37 +0000

Thanks for this great article. I’ve been having this “users don’t mind scrolling” argument with people in the Marketing department I work with for a while now, so it’s good to have some ammunition to back that up.

I did notice that one of you 3 links was broken. It should be:
http://www.cxpartners.co.uk/cxblog/the_myth_of_the_page_fold_evidence_from_user_testing/

Thanks again!

By: Hertfordsire Catering

Hertfordsire Catering — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 01:53:17 +0000

Excellent content! Thanks for sharing. So where do you think this is going? I am going to subscribe to your blog and keep up to date.All the best.