Scroll to load more/infinite scrolling: What amount of content is enough content?

Question

The 'pull/scroll to load more' interaction is dependent on there already being enough content to where the user would have to scroll. Does this mean that the amount of results on any given 'page' is also dependent on the height of the results being greater than the height of the viewport?

My question is this: How is this problem most commonly solved? Especially in cases where user's screen is so tall that you would have to spend additional time retrieving a longer list of results for the user? It seems to me that this is a problem that could easily break this interaction, though I see it used many places.

Answer 1

This is indeed a very smart technique to engage users,its called progressive disclosure,its key factors include:

• At any moment of time you show the user bare minimum amount of info that is very apt and engaging for him/her.
• You always keep a show more option to keep the user engaged.
• You organize the info based on certain key analytical stats(for eg retailors usually prefer to show the most sold items on top),this involves some good user research to identify the content that will keep the user engaged.
• Do not worry about the height of view port,let it scroll/load more,the key is to keep the user engaged and busy,lure him with content.