The good-looking of the website is based on the layout and the content arrangement. These two properties are made up to be preserved when the users scroll down or scroll up the web page. In the search for the UX improvement, web designers and web developers have introduced some amendments to the scrolling function; they have invented the infinite scroll and the parallax scroll. Definitely, the two scrolling methods serve the browsing session. Each of them is characterized by some properties and each may be suitable for particular designs or businesses. Choosing one or the other requires comparing them and try to find which is better for your business.
Impact on the layout:
The impact of the infinite scroll on the layout is noticed on the footer. This important section nested on the bottom of the web page is almost absent. Since the content loads continuously with scrolling down, the footer tends to be pushed down and seems to be lacking. However, this scrolling method works perfectly on mobile devices. There is no need to be concerned with responsiveness because the overall layout is perhaps created along with the loading content.
The parallax scroll, on the other side, can preserve the footer and preserve the overall dimensions of the web pages. Yet, this scrolling method is hard to achieve on all browsers, as well as on the mobile devices.
Impact on the sitemap:
The infinite scroll compacts many pages within the same location, and there is no need to divide the content of the same category over several pages. However, browsing the different categories becomes difficult and the sitemap tends to be a complete mess.
With the parallax scroll, the sitemap is preserved and switching from one category to another is performed as in the classical and default scrolling method. Moreover, the parallax scroll can compress several categories on the same location and still function properly.
Impact on the loading speed:
The infinite scrolling method loads new content while you scroll down; the document weight increases and the new content would take longer to load. The parallax scroll is achieved by applying a particular script on a huge amount of layers. The loading speed is important from the start.
Whether it is the result of the gradually increasing weight or the initial weight, both methods are negatively impacting the loading speed of the website.
Impact on the design flexibility:
The infinite scroll imposes a definite layout and therefore all the website that use this scrolling method have almost the same design. Considering social media platforms, which use this scrolling technique, they tend to have the same organization.
The parallax scroll doesn’t restrict the creativity of the designers. As the matter of fact, this scrolling method offers more flexibility regarding the new designs and the genius combinations of content. To implement this, you may need to engage a freelance web designer Singapore.
Conclusion:
The two scrolling methods have their advantages and their downsides. The final verdict is:
- Infinite is suitable for the website with a lot of visual materials and that are continuously and uncontrollably adding content. Yet, it doesn’t allow the website to be distinguished from the others
- Parallax allows the website to be distinguished from other websites, but it doesn’t work well on mobile devices.