clarity-fold — the abandon-or-scroll verdict
The first screenful gets a disproportionate share of attention — NN/g's
eyetracking puts ~57% of viewing time above the fold — and it renders a
verdict: stay or leave. This stage audits two things: can a stranger pass
the 5-second test, and does the fold invite the scroll or accidentally
end the page (the "illusion of completeness").
Consume the inventory's fold crop and hero copy. Audit the crop, not the
full page — the whole point is what's visible without scrolling.
Rubric
| Check |
Weight |
What to verify |
| 5-second test (Krug) |
×3 |
From the fold crop alone, a stranger answers: What is this? Who is it for? What do I do next? Without re-reading, scrolling, or decoding jargon. |
| Curse-of-knowledge scan (Heath) |
×2 |
Line-by-line over hero copy: internal jargon, feature names used before definition, abstractions with no concrete referent ("streamline your workflow"). Test: could an outsider draw the sentence? |
| Scroll cue |
×2 |
Something visibly continues past the fold edge: cut-off content, a partial next section, a directional cue. A fold that composes as finished — hero + tagline + CTA neatly framed by whitespace — is a false floor; visitors bounce believing they saw the page. |
| SUCCESs hit (Heath) |
×1.5 |
The hero message lands ≥2 of: Simple (one message), Unexpected (not interchangeable with competitors), Concrete (picturable), Credible (a specific), Emotional (a real want/fear), Story (a before/after). |
| Plain style (Pinker, Zinsser) |
×1 |
Buried verbs/nominalizations ("provides optimization of" → "optimizes"), passives hiding actors, sentences needing a second breath. |
| Visual hierarchy serves reading order |
×0.5 |
The eye lands on the promise first, the CTA second — not on decoration. (Skip in --fast mode; mark UNVERIFIED.) |
Anchored bands
- 9–10 — A stranger states what/who/next correctly from the crop alone,
in one pass; a visible cue implies continuation; zero jargon flags.
- 7–8 — What and next are instant; who requires one inference. Or one
minor jargon flag. Scroll cue present.
- 5–6 — What is clear; who or next requires inference or a second read.
Or the fold reads as complete (false floor) despite good copy.
- 3–4 — The visitor must scroll or re-read to state what this is; or
hero copy is interchangeable with any competitor's.
- 0–2 — Cannot state what this is from the fold.
Gate: 5-second test failure (band ≤6 on that check) caps the journey
score at 6.0 — the majority of visitors never see anything below.
Findings
Directions this stage pushes: jargon-out, concrete-in, false-floor-break,
hierarchy-promise-first, cta-labeled. Evidence = the quoted hero line or
the fold-crop element and its position. For copy findings, the advice field
should carry a before/after rewrite, not a description of the problem.
Doctrine suppression applies: never advise stock-photo heroes, badge strips,
or animation removal against a site doctrine that forbids them; advise the
in-doctrine equivalent.
References: references/fold-experts.md.
1---2name: clarity-fold3description: Stage 2 of the stranger test — the 5-second abandon-or-scroll verdict on the first screenful, plus the scroll-cue check (a fold that looks complete invites exit). The successor to single-shot landing-page clarity checks; scored 0-10 and a hard journey gate.4---56# clarity-fold — the abandon-or-scroll verdict78The first screenful gets a disproportionate share of attention — NN/g's9eyetracking puts ~57% of viewing time above the fold — and it renders a10verdict: stay or leave. This stage audits two things: **can a stranger pass11the 5-second test**, and **does the fold invite the scroll** or accidentally12end the page (the "illusion of completeness").1314Consume the inventory's fold crop and hero copy. Audit the crop, not the15full page — the whole point is what's visible without scrolling.1617## Rubric1819| Check | Weight | What to verify |20|---|---|---|21| **5-second test** (Krug) | ×3 | From the fold crop alone, a stranger answers: What is this? Who is it for? What do I do next? Without re-reading, scrolling, or decoding jargon. |22| **Curse-of-knowledge scan** (Heath) | ×2 | Line-by-line over hero copy: internal jargon, feature names used before definition, abstractions with no concrete referent ("streamline your workflow"). Test: could an outsider *draw* the sentence? |23| **Scroll cue** | ×2 | Something visibly continues past the fold edge: cut-off content, a partial next section, a directional cue. A fold that composes as *finished* — hero + tagline + CTA neatly framed by whitespace — is a false floor; visitors bounce believing they saw the page. |24| **SUCCESs hit** (Heath) | ×1.5 | The hero message lands ≥2 of: Simple (one message), Unexpected (not interchangeable with competitors), Concrete (picturable), Credible (a specific), Emotional (a real want/fear), Story (a before/after). |25| **Plain style** (Pinker, Zinsser) | ×1 | Buried verbs/nominalizations ("provides optimization of" → "optimizes"), passives hiding actors, sentences needing a second breath. |26| **Visual hierarchy serves reading order** | ×0.5 | The eye lands on the promise first, the CTA second — not on decoration. (Skip in `--fast` mode; mark UNVERIFIED.) |2728## Anchored bands2930- **9–10** — A stranger states what/who/next correctly from the crop alone,31 in one pass; a visible cue implies continuation; zero jargon flags.32- **7–8** — What and next are instant; who requires one inference. Or one33 minor jargon flag. Scroll cue present.34- **5–6** — What is clear; who or next requires inference or a second read.35 Or the fold reads as complete (false floor) despite good copy.36- **3–4** — The visitor must scroll or re-read to state what this is; or37 hero copy is interchangeable with any competitor's.38- **0–2** — Cannot state what this is from the fold.3940**Gate**: 5-second test failure (band ≤6 on that check) caps the journey41score at 6.0 — the majority of visitors never see anything below.4243## Findings4445Directions this stage pushes: `jargon-out`, `concrete-in`, `false-floor-break`,46`hierarchy-promise-first`, `cta-labeled`. Evidence = the quoted hero line or47the fold-crop element and its position. For copy findings, the advice field48should carry a before/after rewrite, not a description of the problem.4950Doctrine suppression applies: never advise stock-photo heroes, badge strips,51or animation removal against a site doctrine that forbids them; advise the52in-doctrine equivalent.5354References: `references/fold-experts.md`.
modiqo