Is infinite scroll intuitive in enterprise applications?

Question

I know infinite scroll is all the rage in social media applications because it keeps me scrolling for longer than I should, but in terms of functionality are there any pros/cons to using infinite scroll in an enterprise environment?

This is also assuming that search and filter options are still provided, but a continuous scroll of 1000s of objects in a table would still be a possibility.

Answer 1

Infinite scrolling should be used when the content is discoverable and the user is not looking for something specific.

"Above all else, infinite scroll is designed to boost user engagement and keep viewers on the page for as long as possible. If visitors have no particular goal in mind, infinite scrolling will continue to roll out relevant content in a way that is efficient, digestible, and interruption-free." - Source ( https://blog.hubspot.com/website/pagination-vs-infinite-scroll )

Answer 2

Endless scrolling is not recommended for goal-oriented finding tasks

Don't use infinite scroll if you can answer at least one of the following questions with a yes:

• Does the application have content below the table (a footer perhaps)?
• Do users find comfort in seeing the scroll bar to know how much content is on the page?
• Is there a need to share the page or to backtrack to it?

Plus mind that...

... locating a previously found item on an extremely long page is inefficient, especially if that item is placed many scrolling segments down. It’s much easier for people to remember that the item is on page 3 than it is to gauge where the item is positioned on an extremely long page.

Pagination is almost always the better choice.

With pagination, there is a beginning and an end. People can anticipate the effort required to scan the page. There is a happy sense of completion when a page is reviewed.

_{Citations taken from nngroup.com: Infinite Scrolling Is Not for Every Website.}