Just get rid of the damn headers. Users don't want them. They are just misguided ways of trying to raise retention, but really what they do is make your site less pleasant to use, which then makes me not want to come back later.
Just get rid of the damn headers. Users don't want them.
Are there any stats that prove this? I see this repeated time and time again on HN but I'm yet to see evidence that (a meaningfully significant number of) users are turned off by headers like this, while I have seen evidence that it increases engagement rates. It's used in both Chrome on Android and Safari on iOS, so I don't think it's an alien concept at this point.
Seeing as how they're a common (and, IMO, very pleasant) user interface idiom on mobile, I think it's very reasonable question to ask regarding the web.
You made a claim about "users". Data to support it would be nice.
I absolutely loathe fixed headers, but I think this script is pretty cool. The headers stay out of your way when you are reading, and when you actually want to use the navigation you don't have to scroll all the way to the top. I really see no downside, except "more JavaScript." (People who are complaining about JavaScript: you really aren't going to like the Web in 5 years)
Downside: more javascript (another file to load, to break, to parse, to wait on, etc)
Downside: unusual behaviour. Users fully understand how to scroll to the top of a page to find the header. This hack already requires them to scroll up to get to the header. Also, there's a decent chance that if you're trying to find the header that you're going to leave the page, so it doesn't matter if you lose your spot.
It's a cutesy feature, but it's cumbersome and pointless, and doesn't add any real usability (unless you count getting rid of fixed headers, which also don't add any real usability).
There are two kind of significant problems with headers that hide as you scroll, in my experience. 1) You can't easily get to the navigation when you do need it—have to scroll up some uncertain amount that varies by site (this unknown makes simply using scrollbars more reliable)—and 2) you get it when you don't need it, as in you're simply scrolling back to reread a portion of the text above.
In short, this element feels always somewhat out of user's control.
Much more usable on mobile would be putting such navigation in a kind of sidebar that many apps already employ (often accessible by swiping from the left edge of the screen), while on desktop a great solution is simple “top” links, strategically placed.
Plain fixed headers, possibly somewhat collapsing in height as you scroll, also seem better than vanishing headers from the point of control.
Unless there comes out some positive research on usability of this particular UI element, I personally am not convinced.
> Plain fixed headers, possibly somewhat collapsing in height as you scroll, also seem better than vanishing headers from the point of control.
That's doable with this library btw. What happens in response to scrolling is entirely dependent on your CSS. So when scrolling down, have it apply a class which reduces the height, and when scrolling up, restore the height.
Also, it's worth noting, that whilst the obvious use-case for the lib is headers; it can be used on any element, to have it react to scroll direction and distance. For instance, I've used it to make a sidebar fixed after scrolling past a certain point on the page (classic sticky sidebar pattern). Also, I've used it to only show a "back to top" link when a user is > 50% down the page and scrolling up quickly - so unless you're deep in a page and scrolling towards the top, the link will never be visible/distracting.
Actually, it's not as bad as the headline implies. Header stays hidden once it disappears, giving you the entire screen to read, but if you scroll up a bit it appears again, so you can use it to navigate. It acts the same as iOS Safari header - once you get used to it, it's really nice.
A completely static site also has this property. When I scroll to the top, I can see the top. When I scroll away from the top, I cannot see the top.
I've just stated a tautology, so I'm missing something.
EDIT I'm seriously wondering whether this whole thing is a joke I'm not getting. Is there a jQuery plug-in that lets me click on text to go to other pages, too?
The easiest way to think of it is a halfway house between fixed and static. You get the benefits of static (maximising vertical screen space) while keeping the benefits of a fixed header (primary navigation always close to hand).
Edit: it's not a joke, it's an established pattern found on both iOS and Android.
Slightly interesting backstory with android: this effect was originally added to the stock browser on android 3.0. I loved how the tiny enhancement gave me more screen real estate, so I decided to build a JS lib to emulate the effect. The pattern didn't make it into the original chrome for Android, but after I mentioned it to Paul Irish he made it happen there too :)
There's no snapback to where you were reading if you double-tap the top. Which sucks and makes for a bad UX if you only need the top bar for a moment (for a share button, for example).
And I'm pretty sure you lost the plot, because this thread is about the header library in the OP, not the browser chrome. Your suggestion to double-tap to the top (with a menu that doesn't follow you) means I lose my place. And so it's not a good suggestion.
Dude. The iPhone was a comparison, not a concrete part of the discussion. Did you, like, read the posts before it in this subthread that are whining about how this thing is useless because you can "just" scroll to the top of the page to see the menu bar on the page? And, now, how tapping to the top isn't a good solution? There are enough upvotes on my posts here that I don't think this is that unclear.
I'm glad I'm not the only one; when I saw the headline I thought "this fix wouldn't be necessary if people just used static pages in the first place."
I've seen headers that stay on-screen while scrolling; even on huge displays they annoy me, so kudos to the author for the effort and putting it out there, but I can't help but feel like he just hit a windmill full tilt.
The point is that you should not have to scroll all the way to the top to see the header. Tools like headroom.js add predictive behavior to your site to improve user experience. I personally really appreciate sites that have it.
This. Moreover, is adding even more JavaScript really necessary? How about just make things simple, fast, and easy to read? As an user I'll always choose speed and good typography over clever transitions and smart menus.
precisely! or you can use matchMedia (or my lib enquire.js [0]) to selectively enable/disable the entire feature. This might be preferable than @media in your CSS, because it does away with scroll listeners where they're not needed.
Whoa! I'm very excited to be reading the text of the person put in charge of the universe! I'm getting chills just thinking that you might actually read this humble message.
