The Mac OS X Human Interface Guidelines emphasize the importance of convenient, intuitive scrolling techniques. For this reason, Apple changed 25 years of convention when they released Mac OS X Lion in 2011. In the past, two finger scrolling followed the convention of scrolling on a mouse, because that is what was introduced first. However, Apple wanted to change the behavior of their scrolling to correspond with how it would work in physical space. For example, if you were reading a piece of paper in a fixed viewing frame, you would need to push the paper upwards to view information at the bottom of the page or downwards to read the top. This "natural scrolling" on the trackpad would no longer follow the direction of the scroll bar, but the user's finger movement.

Initially, this change made users angry and frustrated. Essentially, users had to reprogram their muscle memory to accomodate this alteration. Over time, users began appreciating the new technique, realizing it's a more realistic way to scroll. However, incase users dislike the change and prefer not to use it, Apple gives them the option to change their scroll settings back to the original way.

In the earlier designs of OS X, the scroll bar contained arrows, similar to the ones on Windows 10. However, the arrows were not placed at the top and bottom of the scroll bar. Following Fitts' law, which predicts the time needed to rapidly move to a target area, Apple strategically placed both of those buttons at the bottom of the scroll bar for easier reach. However, after the update in OS X Lion, they removed the arrows altogether. Instead of using arrows, users can click at the top inside the scroll bar to move up the page or at the bottom to shift downwards.

Unlike Windows 10, Apple changed the default settings of the scroll bar to appear only when finger movement is tracked. The Inferface Guidelines explain that this adjustment was made so that the scroll bar will not "occupy valuable space in the content area". When the scroll bar does appear, users can have an understanding of how small or large the document is based on the size of the scroll thumb or where they are in the current window. However, if users want to keep the scroll bar present at all times, they could change their scroll bar settings to "Always" in System Preferences. In addition, users can manipulate the settings to change the result of a click in the scroll bar; this click can either jump to the next page or move to the place where the scroll bar was clicked.

Mac OS X provides various alternatives for users who prefer different scrolling methods. Aside from the variants listed above, there are a few other shortcuts that can be used for scrolling. For example, the keyboard shortcut Command+Up Arrow (⌘ Cmd ⇧) will scroll all the way to the top of the page, while Command+Down Arrow (⌘ Cmd ⇩) will move all the way to the bottom of the page. Similarly, Option+Up Arrow (⌥ Opt ⇧) scrolls up by "one full screen" whereas Option+Down Arrow (⌥ Opt ⇩) will shift down by "one full screen."

Microsoft's UX Guidelines prioritize two aspects of desktop design: simplicity and power. Here we will examine how those qualities apply to scrolling in Windows 10.

In their description of good user design, the Microsoft Guidelines detail what exactly makes a program simple and powerful. To ensure simplicity, they argue for elimination of any controls that may be considered unessential; for Microsoft, simplicity is not equivalent to ease-of-use, but a method to attain it. To make an application powerful, it should be versatile and flexible while enabling users to perform all kinds of tasks.

The Windows 'Design and UI' category clearly states: "Windows has two scroller visualizations, which are based on the user's input mode: scroll indicators when using touch or gamepad; and interactive scroll bars for other input devices including mouse, keyboard, and pen." For Windows 10 devices that can toggle between laptop and tablet, the user now has more power in their method of scrolling (shown in the image below) between modes.

In the images below, we can see how the Windows 10 interface applies the different modes of scrolling (default vs. tablet mode) with a simple change in design. The first example features a file explorer menu with the expected scrollbar view on the right side of the menu. The tablet scroll, however, is a slimmed-down, simpler feature that mimics the appearance of tabs (demonstrated by the purple tab on the left side of the screen).

Unlike the Mac OS X in which the scroll bar will "hide," or slide out of view of the screen, if not in use, the Windows platform always has the scrollbar in view of the page, regardless of action indicated by the user. Furthermore, Mac ensures that the action of manipulating the scroll wheel on a mouse moves the page in the same direction as it would on a two-fingered scroll. Windows, however, does not match its scroll wheel motion to the two-fingered scroll, but defaults it to rotating up and down moving the page in those respective directions. This sudden change can be disorienting for some users who are used to the trackpad motion.

One majorly noticeable difference between Windows scrolling and other platforms is the advent of the up and down arrow buttons on either end of the scroll thumb. The user can either click these arrows instantaneously and move a small amount up and down the page, or they can click and hold the buttons to drag scroll the content.

This is directly compliant with Windows' advocation for providing their clients with 'power' - with the addition of a button control, the user now has more choice for their preferred method of scrolling. Windows' extra keyboard controls further reflect this: not only can a Windows user scroll using the space bar, the 'Page Up' and 'Page Down' keys also perform a scrolling operation by jumping a full pages length up or down, respectively.

This variety of control is unique to Windows platforms. Therein lies the criticism that the wealth of scrolling options provided by Windows is excessive and unnecessary; no user will, in their daily use, need over six different ways to navigate through content. The question naturally follows: are all these methods truly essential to the platform and in line with Windows' simplicity guidelines? The provision of choice can arguably compensate for this excess, however. Since Windows expects its users to range in computing proficiency, from expert to newbie, they will undoubtedly desire different methods of navigation - hence, the multitude of options.

There are three primary themes that differentiate iOS from other platforms: Clarity, Deference, and Depth

The overview for the iOS Human Interface Guidelines explains how each one of these themes is essential for good user design. Furthermore, there is a set of sub principles, Aesthetic Integrity, Consistency, Direct Manipulation, Feedback, Metaphors, and User Control, that maximize the effect of each of the themes. When closely analysing the scrolling component of iOS, it is clear how some of these themes and principles affect it.

The iOS scrolling guideline states, “A scroll view allows users to browse content, such as text in a document or a collection of images, that’s larger than the visible area.” To scroll on an iOS device, users simply swipe their finger on the screen to scroll up, down, and/or side to side.

Unlike Windows 10, the iOS scrolling bar will disappear when the user is not scrolling (notice the gif to the left). This aspect is derived from the iOS principle of Aesthetic Integrity, which focusses on unobtrusive graphics to keep users focussed on their tasks. By having a transient scrolling indicator, the scrolling bar does not become a distraction from the overall picture on the screen. This is especially important on smaller iOS devices like the iPhone. However, by appearing when the user is scrolling, the scrolling indicator helps the user have an understanding of how far up or down they are in their current window.

The iOS themes Depth and Deference, as well as the principle of Metaphors, also affect the design of the scrolling indicator. Depth, Deference, and Metaphors highlight that iOS strives to model “familiar experiences,” “fluid motion,” and “realistic motion.” When a user wants to scroll on an iOS device, they move their finger in the opposite direction that they want the window to move. For example, if they want to scroll up, they drag their finger down. This is done to emulate how it would work in real world physics. If a person were to drag a long piece of paper downwards, they would see the higher portion of the paper.

When looking at the movement of the scrolling indicator, it can be seen that it has realistic and fluid motion. If a user flicks upwards on the screen, the scrolling indicator will begin by moving downwards quickly, but overtime slow down until it comes to a complete stop (notice the gif to the right). Contrary to this, if a user drags their finger down the screen, stops moving their finger, then lifts their finger off the screen, the scrolling indicator will move and stop at the pace of the user’s finger. This is done to imitate the effect that friction has on the motion of physical objects, which is something people experience on a daily basis. By modeling scrolling like this, the time to learn scrolling is shortened and the memorability of scrolling is strengthened because the actions are familiar to the user.

Overall, although the iOS platform provides the user with a scrolling indicator, it is really only the user’s finger movements that control the movement of the window. The purpose of the scrolling indicator is to fulfill the iOS principle of feedback by acknowledging “actions and showing results to keep people informed.” It does this by acting as a navigational tool that shows where the user is located in the window and how large the window the user is looking at is.