Infinite scrolling: Explore ways to improve refinding content

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Now that in WordPress 7.1 after #65564 Infinite scrolling is enabled again by default, it's a good opportunity to explore ways to improve some of the known usability limitations of this design pattern.

Note: It is worth reminding that Infinite scrolling is not used only in the Media Library, see #40330.

That said, one of the known usability limitations of infinite scrolling is the difficulty for users in re-finding content they previously have seen several 'scrolls' before.

In a 2022 article, the Norman Nielsen Group researchers dedicated an entire section to this problem:

"Difficulty refinding content"

Infinite Scrolling: When to Use It, When to Avoid It
Nielsen Norman Group – September 4, 2022
​https://www.nngroup.com/articles/infinite-scrolling-tips/

Quoting:

Infinite scrolling results in a lack of landmarks to help users orient themselves. With pagination, users may remember the page that an item was on and that an item was close to the top of the page or towards the middle, but in an infinite list of items, it is hard to remember the location of any specific item and return to it.

Reading the entire article is highly recommended.

After some research, there's a few ways to consider to mitigate the 'refindability' problem. I'll mention them here and then leave room for usability / design considerations, feedback, and more exploration.

1
Save for Later / Wishlists: Provide a clear "bookmark," "favorite," or "save" button on every item thumbnail so users can flag content without leaving the feed.

2
Recent History: Maintain a visible "Recently Viewed" section or sidebar so users can jump back to items they already clicked.

3
Integrated Pagination Indicators: Display dynamic page numbers (e.g., "Page 3") as the user scrolls to serve as landmarks, making the list feel segmented and easier to remember.

Some of these patterns are our daily common experience on our mobile phones. For example, many Photos apps do split the images feed into sections by date, month etc.

Regarding the "Save for Later / Wishlists / bookmark" section I'd like to highlight the Media Library already provides something similar:

• When creating a gallery, the bottom toolbar shows the currently selected images.
• This feature could be extended beyond the Gallery creation flow and become a sort of 'Recently viewed' list that is displayed in the bottom toolbar for every image users select before they actually insert into the post.

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The current selection in the bottom toolbar could be extended to be a 'Recently viewed' list.