Ask HN: Why 30 posts per page?

#1

Post by dcpdx » Fri, Jun 27, 2014, 6:55 PM UTC

I'm sitting at my desk eating lunch and browsing HN and a thought occurred to me--why does HN display 30 posts per page? Is there some attribute to the design that makes 30 an ideal number for usability, or some optimization on the backend that makes 30 the ideal number? Why not 25, or 35, why not infinite scroll? Is it because "it's the way it's always been, and users are used to it?"

I am not a technical person but enjoy the content posted here and love learning about why things are the way they are. If anyone has any background on this from either inside YC or out, I'd love to hear it.

Re: Ask HN: Why 30 posts per page?

#2

Post by talles » Fri, Jun 27, 2014, 7:02 PM UTC

I have no really info why HN guys decided to go thirty but...

I bet it's because gives the screen a great height. I believe that with 30 you have to scroll down only once on most monitors, and still 30 is a great number of content in single page.

Re: Ask HN: Why 30 posts per page?

#3

Post by dang » Fri, Jun 27, 2014, 11:06 PM UTC

talles wrote: post #2

I have no really info why HN guys decided to go thirty but... I bet it's because gives the screen a great height. I believe that with 30 you have to scroll down only once on most monitors, and still 30 is a great number of content in single page.

That's roughly my understanding, too.

Re: Ask HN: Why 30 posts per page?

#4

Post by allworknoplay » Tue, Jul 08, 2014, 3:53 AM UTC

Just got here after thinking about asking the same question!

From a usability perspective, I'd rather have more than have to go to the next page, solely because of the static next links HN uses -- they confuse me with their making me refresh (usually), catch anything that newly popped onto the page, THEN click next. Would be a lot easier to simply show more.

I'm sure the reason is some combination of load speed and a pseudo-designers' perspective that simpler == better. Who knows.

Re: Ask HN: Why 30 posts per page?

#5

Post by allworknoplay » Tue, Jul 08, 2014, 3:57 AM UTC

allworknoplay wrote: post #4

Just got here after thinking about asking the same question! From a usability perspective, I'd rather have more than have to go to the next page, solely because of the static next links HN uses -- they confuse me with their making me refresh (usually), catch anything that newly popped onto the page, THEN click next. Would be a lot easier to simply show more. I'm sure the reason is some combination of load speed and a…

This related question from some time ago shows experimentation with 25: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2869239