Should I use regular pagination or infinite scroll in this case?

I code a website which is online classifieds similar to craigslist. We are working on the pagination for the list of classified ads and we use regular pagination.

Is there any reason to use infinite scroll instead? I like both approaches but I don't know which is preferred in this case.

Answer

Both solutions have their pros and cons.

Pagination

• Pro: Users can easily orient where they are and go back directly to the page they were before in cases like: browser restarts, swictching from device to device etc. ("John, I have found some interesting ads, gone through the first five pages of them, can you continue, darling?")


• Con: a lot of them will not make it to page 2.

Infinite scroll

• Pro: "Page 2 barrier? What barrier!?" – they will keep scrolling.


• Con: Once they get to the place that in case of pagination would be on page five and they close the page, they will not continue their journey. Or if they send the link to someone (a lot of people do that – they share link to the list, not to the particular offer) – the recipient will not be able to get to it.

Solution? Combine both, providing a navigable, storable navigation that will auto-advance upon scrolling:

• Make it work like it is an infinite scroll.


• Display an indicator to show how far they are in the list (1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - [5] - 6).


• Make this indicator auto-advance as they scroll.


• Store this information in the URL so that they can easily bookmark, share the link to the exact place in the list etc.


• Provide them with means with getting back to this place (e.g. clicking page 6 in the indicator).

I believe this approach is almost bulletproof.