The Fold is Dead

Above the fold. This is a practice that all good web designers have discussed, debated, and argued about. It refers to a method used by newspapers where the most interesting headline or picture is placed at the very top of the front page.

This is used to catch the attention of the reader. When they see something interesting on a newsstand, they'll buy it.

"It is 2010. This is the web. The fold is dead." - Nick Bushkar

I check my bank account, pay my bills, and transfer money online. I shop online for a new computer desk, while downloading the Beatles greatest hits and uploading vacation pictures to Facebook in the background. The web has changed our lives. Why wouldn't it change this almost century old rule?

The proof is in the way people use websites today versus the way newspapers were sold. Newspapers sat on newsstands where people would walk by, and maaaaybe stop to see what was going on. On the internet, a user is most likely looking for something specific. If you go to nike.com you won't leave the website because the most interesting headline or picture is readily available in the first couple seconds. You will scroll down, or to the side, to find something. You will use the navigation to go to a subsection. Let's check out the current homepage for Nike.

I like it. Simple, and it gets the point across, but this is far from the epitome of excitement. A black background with a gray to white gradient? Choose your language? If this was a newspaper competing for sales at a newsstand, it would be in trouble. However, this is the screen you get if you're not a regular user. Let's check out the first screen that will show up if you are.

Great image of Kobe. I want soccer cleats. This image has no influence on me, and I came here for a purpose.

The purpose of the fold rule was to sell newspapers.

This is not a newspaper. You aren't paying us to use this website. You came here because you wanted information on a website, you found us on google, a friend told you about us, or some crazy other way. The rule just simply has never applied to the internet.

A website's fold changes. A newspaper's does not.

What size is your monitor? In the room that I'm currently in, there are two 15.4" laptops, a 21" iMac, a dual 19" monitor setup on a PC, and a 17" CRT monitor. All have different resolutions. The way every single one of these monitors displays a website is different. The New York Times is always the same size.

Are you still reading this?

Of course you are. You didn't stop because it was just too far for your little finger to scroll down. You came to this website for a reason, and now you're here reading this blog post.

Because we are not limited by space, printing costs, distribution costs, etc., we should not live by the same rules as a newspaper. The top fold of a website should look great. So should the rest of the site. Designers need to stop worrying about what their users will see within the first couple seconds, and start thinking about the entire experience.