This is bad and I'll tell you why. If you do client work (ie build websites for business owners) they will occasionally get obsessed with cramming all of their content 'above-the-fold'. They key distinction is that instead of logically placing important things above the fold (and still keeping the rest), they want EVERYTHING above the fold which leads to huge compromises in design, layout and functionality.
I would love to share this data with clients but I'm not looking forward to the resulting fallout.
Anyone know of a good way to handle the client who demands their entire website be ATF?
One (arguably important) unknown here is how likely is a 640x480 user to scroll the page vs a 800x600 user.
You can point out to your client that a more real quality is user engagement -- it's not enough to just show content. This is affected by ATF, but a newpaper-like design of cramming content together may not be the best approach.
Could try to educate your client, explain why only the most important things should be above the fold, and show him a comparison with re-explanation if needed.
I would love to share this data with clients but I'm not looking forward to the resulting fallout.
Anyone know of a good way to handle the client who demands their entire website be ATF?