Why we keep pages short
· GovBB Design System team
We have decided that pages in the design system, and in the services built on it, are kept short. A page should answer one question or support one task. When it grows past that, we split it.
The decision
Nobody should have to scroll indefinitely to find a piece of information. The longer a page gets, the harder it is to scan, the easier it is to lose your place, and the more likely the answer someone came for is buried under everything else. People stop reading, reach for search, or leave.
Desktop scrolling is the early warning, not the real test. Most people use government services on a phone, where the same content is a single narrow column: a page that takes three swipes on a laptop takes ten or more on a phone. If the scrolling feels long on a desktop, it is definitely too long on mobile.
How to tell a page is too long
- It covers more than one task or answers more than one question.
- The "On this page" list is longer than a screen, or the headings read like unrelated topics.
- You need the browser's find-in-page to locate anything on it.
- Scrolling back up to reorient yourself is part of using the page.
What to do instead
- Split content by task, one page per thing a user is trying to do.
- Put the most important information first, so most visits never need to scroll far.
- Use clear, scannable headings; people find answers by scanning, not reading.
- Link to related pages instead of repeating their content inline.
Why record this
Recording decisions like this, with the reasoning and the date, means we do not have to relitigate them later, and new contributors can understand why the system is the way it is.