My colleagues and I are working on a mobile app (Android and iPhone) that allows users to browse a social feed. Each post in the feed consists of a mandatory picture, optional text and comments on the post (kind of similar to Instagram). The picture will be as large as possible (not a thumbnail) because the main focus of the app is visual vs. textual.
We have a dilemma regarding the best way to navigate these posts. Here are the two options we are considering with potential benefits for each:
Mixed: Horizontal Swiping between posts with Vertical Scrolling of post content:
Benefits:
- Ergonomics: I find it easier to swipe horizontally. Although this is a debatable opinion.
- Flexibility: Users can quickly "page" through posts by swiping to the next one. If a user wants to see more content within a given post (mostly textual comments) he/she can vertically scroll for that additional content.
Vertical Scrolling:
Benefits:
- Familiarity: almost all social feeds seem to be presented with vertical scrolling.
- Simplicity: by scrolling in a single direction, one can scroll through posts and associated comments in a seamless manner.
Bottom Line:
Here are my two questions:
- Should the fact that all social feeds currently implement vertical scrolling only prevent us from exploring the mixed navigation option?
- Based on the above description, which navigation paradigm is best?