22 / SCROLL BEHAVIOR
Chat Bottom Anchor
The problem
A chat that always jumps to the newest message yanks you away whenever you scroll up to read older ones.
The solution
New messages auto-scroll only if you're already at the bottom.
Experiment
Task: Scroll up, then send new messages.
NAIVE
- Hey, did you see the new build?
- Yeah, deploying now.
- Nice, tests are green.
- Let's ship after review.
at bottomTRUE
unread0
THOUGHTFUL
- Hey, did you see the new build?
- Yeah, deploying now.
- Nice, tests are green.
- Let's ship after review.
at bottomTRUE
unread0
Play with the values
40px
How it works
Seen in
Messaging apps
Reading old messages isn't interrupted when new ones arrive.
Live chat
Support threads stay put while you review earlier context.
Comment streams
New comments notify without hijacking your scroll.
Log viewers
Tailing logs pauses when you scroll up to inspect a line.