One screen split in two.
Known about for a long time in the film industry, the split screen technique dates back to the silent movie days in the early 20th century, and is now even more popular in television and film today.
A split screen layout is used when full-screen elements are split into two vertical parts. Although, this is still a pretty new technique for the web design industry, with split screens only becoming popular around mid-2016. Since last year, there has been an increasing amount of websites using this design pattern, below are a few reasons why they have become so popular:
- It is a clever aesthetical quality to have on a website page. When it is used in the right way, it can offer users a brilliant browsing experience.
- It is good for interactive and responsive frameworks. This design can be adapted for numerous types of screens, even tiny ones. When it comes to mobile displays, the panels can be stacked.
- It absolutely helps guide navigation. It’s incredible how such simple design changes, such as a split screen can draw the attention of a user to a specific part of the screen for ‘clicking’ encouragement.
WHEN SPLIT SCREENS WORK
Split-screens if you have more than one thing to promote. The approach allows designers to give prominence to both things that need to be promoted and allows the user to move quickly and select which one they choose.
WHEN YOU SHOULD AVOID SPLIT SCREENS
As content grows, split-screen designs don’t expand well. It is for this reasons that it is not recommended to apply them to heavy layouts which include a lot of content. Complex screens make the UI look overloaded with information, therefore you should only use these designs for a minimalist website.
DESIGN TECHNIQUES FOR SPLIT SCREENS
- Pair vibrant colour and dramatic typography
- Draw user attention to the CTA button
- Create visual flow between “screens”
- Use animation to encourage users to act
According to research, it takes roughly three seconds for a user to make a decision with regards to your website. Therefore, your layouts should always be user-friendly and easy to navigate. Split-screens can help you with that, so why not incorporate them into your designs?
We hope this short guide has helped, be sure to check out our other blogs/news.
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