Scroll is the new Flash

December 7th, 2011 | Posted in Tactics

I have noticed a very interesting design trend emerging in higher education as influenced by other industries. I believe it is based on the decline (or demise) of Adobe Flash on websites. A direct result of institutions backing away from Flash and trying to be more “adaptive” or “mobile” or “standardized” has caused a new trend: scroll is the new Flash.

“Scroll is the new Flash” means the development of super-tall pages with massive images and lots of multimedia content. Instead of using Flash animation and its in-page transitions, the layouts use vertical space. Additionally, effects and interactivity give the user a sense of layering or depth.

Examples in Higher Education

I am not attempting an in-depth analysis at this point, just sharing an observation. Without more data, it is too early to determine if these approaches are effective. But they sure look amazing and are intense and overwhelming at the same time. Regardless of their impact on the user, this trend is a clear testimony to the approaching end of Flash-based development in higher ed.

More Examples?

We will have to watch and see how aggressively digital teams will pursue retaining the effect of Flash-based interactivity. What are other examples of the trend “scroll is the new Flash,” and why do you believe it’s occurring? Please share your comments on Google+.

Be sure and read the great response article published by Chas Grundy: Do Long Scrolling Pages Work?. Thanks, Chas.

Posted in Tactics | Permalink

Other Recent Posts:

Matt Klawitter is a higher education and non-profit marketing consultant based out of Chicago. He is the former Executive Director of Digital Communications Marketing at Washington University in St. Louis and also the former Director of the Notre Dame Web Group.
More about Matt Klawitter.

Powered by Wordpress - Entries (RSS)