Why Is Smooth Scrolling Bad for Websites?

Marvin Schwaibold says smooth scrolling on websites is a disaster in the industry. Use native scroll and do not hinder the speed at which a user wants to interact with the content.

Apple has pioneered interruptible interfaces for decades, and the software and hardware are proof. Thought patterns are interruptible: someone might think one thing and click on something else. Putting a user where they have to smooth scroll or scroll jack through the content, because that is how a designer thinks they will perceive or digest it, is almost an arrogant way of going about it. He wants to stay as unobtrusive as possible and as polite as when entering a room. Dieter Rams would always say, enter politely and quietly when you walk into the room.

People are used to scrolling on probably hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of other websites, usually on phones. They get used to the sensitivity and the precision. When a site changes that, they have to reorient to find what they are looking for, the change becomes a distraction, and the page becomes sluggish.