Alex Lee on "Bell Curve Pagination"
Bell Curve Pagination
What we wanted to create was a pagination system where the distribution of links changes in relation to both the number of records in the set, and the current position in the set. Users need small jumps close to their current position and then wider jumps towards the end.
The mathmatical model we use is a slightly modified Bell Curve. The user can access the nearby pages as well jump to midpoints or the start and the end without the needs for pre-defined links. Note: the numbers I’m showing here are just examples.
If there are 100 records in the set and the user is at the mid-point they will see links to 49, 48 and 51, 52 but as the range extends outwards, the granularity of the links changes.
Using this system the user can navigate in a more natural way such as ‘it was near the end’ or ’somewhere around 40′ and can find a record far faster than the traditional method.
The added bonus is that this is SEO gold. Google only navigates a few pages deep and by exposing your entire record set (rather than just the first 10) search engines can index the entire range with just a few jumps.
Extensions & Open Source
You can see Bell Curve pagination in action on any long list page on Smarkets.
