So you’re reviewing your analytics and notice that users aren’t scrolling – A false floor may be to blame. A false floor is created when the website user doesn’t know they can scroll further caused by an ‘Illusion of completeness’. It may seem obvious that scroll is possible to you, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your users understand that – it’s more common than you think!
1. Provide clues
Full height headers can be a nice aesthetic, but it’s important to provide some clues that you can continue scrolling. Arrows pointing down for more or snippets from the design below peaking above are two ways to get the full height header look while avoiding a false floor.
2. Be careful of horizontal lines
Horizontal lines can be a tricky territory, remember that your users are accessing from various devices and browser heights, so horizontal lines can create unintended false floors.
3. Avoid end signifiers
Ads, social-share, and other calls to action may be an important part of your website, but these are often seen as end signifiers to users. Consider placement of these elements, for example, avoid placing in the middle of an article to make sure users know to scroll further.
There are lots of other tips and tricks depending on your specific challenge, but being aware of false floors is a great first step in avoiding this common issue.
