A comparison of paging and scrolling for changing screen contents by inexperienced users

Paging and scrolling were compared as to their relative suitability for determining which part of a body of information is to be displayed on a screen. Unpractised subjects performed three different tasks (word reading, line searching, sorting) with both modes of operation. The subjects also rated the suitability of the two modes of operation for each task. Paging was preferred by inexperienced users and it resulted in better performance on the sorting task.