Rethinking
The Fold
Chuck Mallo4
July 2009

What is The Fold?
Originally a term coined in the newspaper prin<ng business years ago.
Newspapers are folded in half, leaving 50% of the content below the fold.
Newsprint designers had to be cognizant of the fold and design layouts and
ar<cles so the important headlines and features were above the fold.
Most important stuff here
LD
FO
Why we shouldn’t worry about
E
TH
Less important stuff here
2
The Fold

The Fold online
Wikipedia says:
This term has been extended and used in web development to refer the por<ons of a
webpage that can be visible without scrolling.
However, some have suggested that this term is inaccurate as screen sizes vary greatly
between users, especially in an era where websites are viewed with mobile devices as
much as home computers.
Why we shouldn’t worry about
3
The Fold
SOURCE: h8p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Above_the_fold

The Fold online
In the early days of the internet, screen sizes were small and the average screen
resolu<ons were much lower than what we enjoy today.
% of users viewing websites with a screen
resolu<on of 800x600 or less
2002 2009
51% 7%
Why we shouldn’t worry about
THEREFORE:
Web designers (many of them migra<ng from the print industry) put a lot of
effort into making sure users didn’t have to scroll much to see the whole page.
4
The Fold
SOURCE: www.thecounter.com

The Fold online
Today, screens are much larger and screen resolu<ons are much higher.
% of users viewing websites with a screen
resolu<on of 1024x768 or more
2002 2009
46% 80%
Why we shouldn’t worry about
THEREFORE:
Since there is so much more screen real estate to work with, modern‐day
designers are less concerned about users having to scroll down to see important
page elements or calls to ac<on.
5
The Fold
SOURCE: www.thecounter.com

Where is The Fold?
430px
That’s one of the problems when contempla<ng The Fold. Where exactly is it?
600px
Due to the wide variances in screen resolu<ons, screen sizes and browser window
sizes, reaching a consensus on the “average” placement of the fold is problema<c.
860px
Why we shouldn’t worry about
The fold is not a single loca<on, but a broadly dispersed distribu<on with three
peaks located at roughly 430, 600 and 860 pixels. These peaks correspond to the
three most popular screen resolu<ons used today: 800×600, 1024×768 and
1280×1024, minus about 170 pixels used up by the non‐client area of the browser.*
6
The Fold
SOURCE: h8p://blog.clicktale.com/2007/10/05/clicktale‐scrolling‐research‐report‐v20‐part‐1‐visibility‐and‐scroll‐reach/

Scrolling below The Fold
In the early years, there was a common misconcep<on that users didn’t like to scroll.
Today, there is plenty of data that proves that users don’t mind scrolling.
In fact, research shows that most users are comfortable with scrolling and do so
regularly, regardless of page height.
Percent Scrolled to the Bo4om
Why we shouldn’t worry about
7
Page Height (Pixels)
The Fold
SOURCE: h8p://blog.clicktale.com/2007/10/05/clicktale‐scrolling‐research‐report‐v20‐part‐1‐visibility‐and‐scroll‐reach/

What the experts are saying
“
This myth that users won’t scroll to see anything below
the fold – is doing everyone a great disservice, most of all
our users.
Milissa Tarquini
Director, User Interface Design and Informa<on Architecture at AOL
“
Users are perfectly willing to scroll ... if the page gives
them strong clues that scrolling will help them find what
they’re looking for.
Jared Spool
Why we shouldn’t worry about
CEO & Founding Principal of User Interface Engineering
“
We should start thinking of “the fold” as something
other than a hard line with an “above” and “below”
porUon, and we should stop thinking of the verUcal
posiUoning on a page as equivalent to priority.
8
The Fold
Christopher Fahey
Designer, Teacher and Co‐Founder of Behavior, an interac<on design consultancy

Rethinking The Fold
Should we try to eliminate pages that scroll?
Should we try to cram as much content as close to the top of the page as possible?
Should we get rid of good content just to reduce the height of a page?
Does “the fold” really mager?
NO.
Why we shouldn’t worry about
9
The Fold

Rethinking The Fold
Should we make sure that our primary calls to ac<on are close to the top of the page and
visually dis<nct?
Should our page templates be laid out in such a way to feature important content at the
top of the page?
Should we employ a content strategy that calls for concise content throughout our site?
Yes!
Why we shouldn’t worry about
10
The Fold

Further reading
BlasWng the Myth of the Fold
hgp://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/blas<ng‐the‐myth‐of
Unfolding the Fold
hgp://blog.clicktale.com/2006/12/23/unfolding‐the‐fold/
ClickTale Scrolling Research Report V2.0
Part 1: Visibility and Scroll Reach
hgp://blog.clicktale.com/2007/10/05/clicktale‐scrolling‐research‐report‐v20‐
Why we shouldn’t worry about
part‐1‐visibility‐and‐scroll‐reach/
ClickTale Scrolling Research Report V2.0
Part 2: Visitor A4enWon and Web Page Exposure
hgp://blog.clicktale.com/2007/12/04/clicktale‐scrolling‐research‐report‐v20‐
part‐2‐visitor‐agen<on‐and‐web‐page‐exposure/
11
The Fold

Sites that don’t bend at The Fold
Apple The White House
Adobe Starbucks
Symantec Neblix
Microso^ Southwest Airlines
Geico Intel
Why we shouldn’t worry about
Nike Motorola
Hulu Barnes & Noble
Vizio Capgemini
12
EDS AIGA
The Fold

QuesWons?
Chuck Mallo4
Interac<on Designer
chuckmallog@gmail.com
Why we shouldn’t worry about
13
The Fold