At 07:05 AM 3/13/2009, Mathijs Panhuijsen wrote:

...Does anybody know of any hard data to support the idea that the user
benefits from a calmer, padded GUI over a denser one with more room for
controls and/or information?
-------------
I can't give you data, but I can give you observations from usability 
studies, based on comments from participants.

In a study with physicians, and another with attorneys and 
paralegals, we found that people want data on the screen -- lists of 
patients, lists of search results, etc. Rather than cramming more 
text on the page or reducing text size, my visual designer partner 
reduced the banner area. It was still part of a harmonious design, so 
it worked.

Once people are into an application, the branding isn't so important. 
It's like a home page having a more open feeling than the inside 
pages of an informational site. In fact, it's even more important in 
an application -- visitors may enter a Web site at any page, but 
these apps can only start on their start pages.

What space is obviously a good thing, but in moderation. A calmer 
visual design should be better than a busier one, but those are 
subjective things. As always, the best way to convince people is to 
do your own study and show a real customer asking what the point of 
all that empty space is.

					-- hs

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