Scroll or paginate?

Having a debate with a colleague about scrolling or pagination, specifically in elearning modules.  I’m a fan of the styles of Cathy Moore or Presentation Zen – as few words as possible making as strong a message as possible. When you’re dealing with subject experts it’s a struggle but one I enjoy engaging in.  When I approached colleagues for their wish list for a new template I’m designing (for page-turners) he said what he wanted was ‘more space to display content’. When I queried it he said there was research – in Australia, he thinks – that concluded users prefer to scroll down to read information than page through many pages of short texts.  I’m wondering if this was specifically research on tutorial-style elearning or was it for reference information (in which case I agree.)

Can anyone point me to the actual research report, or to any useful writing on the subject?

Comments

[Clive Shepherd]

Slightly different I know, but I attended a presentation on compliance training for an investment bank, delivered on Blackberries, where the learners reported a distinct preference for scrolling over paging.

It's also true to say for the web generally (see Jakob Neilson's work) that users prefer a few pages rich with links and content to endlessly clicking through pages which are light on content.

[Cathy Moore]

I'll be interested to see any links to research (and I'll look for some myself later today). I do feel, based entirely on opinion, that scrolling is preferable when it's important to see info in context. For example, if we're asking learners to compare X with Y, I think it's best to have X and Y on the same page, which could require a big page. I think it's also easier to see the structure of information when it's all on one page with clear headings and sub-headings.

For me the main distinction is whether the material is supposed to persuade learners (small, high impact screens) or get a lot of content into their brains (longer, scrolling screens with clear info hierarchy).

I like a hybrid approach: use small, high-impact screens to present an interactive scenario that shows the learner how to use a job aid. The job aid usually has procedures and other details that are best on a scrolling screen.