Is a full width scrolling element bad UX on a mobile site?

Question

I have an element that gets content that will overflow the element's height, so it will scroll when scrolling is initiated over it. This element is 100% width, so either the user has to scroll to the bottom of the list first or start the scroll at another location to get past this element.

Is this considered bad UX even though the content is relevant to the website's main functionality? Would it make sense to make the element tall enough to accomodate all that will be in it to avoid this "issue"?

Answer 1

This kind of behavior violates user control, which is against one of the usability heuristics.

User control and freedom
Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.

^{From 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design by J.Nielsen}

Try to avoid that. Make interaction possible when a user shows in clear way he wants to do so. See an example of the similar behavior with map scrolling.

Important: you as a developer can eliminate a lot of usability issues without testing, just by applying usability heuristics. Then try to test if possible ).