Carousels! Why are they bad UI?

Out of context: Reply #4

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  • showpony1

    A few things to consider:

    Often, carousels are at the top of a page, where the "most important" stuff is usually contained. Most viewers won't see the second, third etc. images, which is counter to them being important.

    In a mobile-first approach, I think you should default to vertical scrolling. Having a carousel usually means that the user either has to swipe horizontally (not ideal) or (worse yet) click right/left arrows.

    Carousels were originally made to account to "the fold." The fold isn't really a thing anymore, especially when you consider mobile and touch devices. In other words, it's solving a problem that doesn't really exist anymore. There's plenty of articles that show that users don't mind scrolling.

    Most progressive disclosure patterns are losing support (even hamburger navs). There's tons of data that has shown that users just don't engage with these patterns as optimally as they could. Instead, aim to provide users with "information scents," disclosed bits of content that hint to additional content.

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