It's not just you. It's an annoying trend. Perhaps it's good for phones and tablets (that's arguable), but I don't think it's good for mouse input. At least this landing page (NPR) has optional buttons on the right side, unlike most pages I've seen like this (Spendee). It's turning "mobile first" into "mobile only", and I am being dragged kicking and screaming into it.
As always, the general rule of the desktop is "don't break my browser functionality". Browser functionality = scroll bar, back/forward button, refresh, bookmark, etc.
A better rule is that these browser functions should do what the user expects. I don't think this page violates that rule (and it might not even violate yours: the scrollbar's movement has not been altered on this page like on Apple's product pages).
Yeah, it is definitely whacked for desktops, and I know it's supposed to be somehow good for mobile, but I don't get that either. What's the theory behind it improving the mobile experience? Is it supposed to save bandwidth or something? Because I'm not sure if it's loading the content on scroll or preloading all and merely animating on scroll.
Either way, bandwidth is becoming less of a problem, so I can't see why we'd be launching new design trends to address it.
I don't blame people for experimenting with new ways of visualizing the "scrolling" mechanic. (Though, it is so widely done these days that I can hardly give NPR One credit for "experimenting" in this particular case.) I think it's fun to see people testing new ways to interact.
But if you do that, it had better be well implemented -- and that is clearly where this falls short. User input translates into on-screen behavior inconsistently, arrow keys are basically broken. When you're trying to replace something so basic as scrolling, this is an interesting case study in just how frustrated users will get with even small frustrations. I've found that even the (now) more typical load-on-demand pages drive me nuts when there's no more than a momentary hitch in the scrolling to load more content. Though maybe I'm just easily bothered by such things.
Not only that, but it manages to break the spacebar as a scrolling tool. I'm getting really sick of webapps that are hijacking or breaking keyboard shortcuts!
Oh wow, I hadn't even noticed that! I use the space bar to scroll in "couch mode", because of the lack of scroll wheel on my laptop. Lately, I feel like I'm going to start shaking my fist at clouds.
