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I don't think the root problem is white space. Taking the dictionary example: A good dictionary doesn't display a hundred words per page. Instead, you just nee
by arendtio 8y ago
I don't think the root problem is white space.
Taking the dictionary example: A good dictionary doesn't display a hundred words per page. Instead, you just need a box to write down the word you search and a few lines to display the results. Plenty of space for the designer to turn white.
The problem is somewhere in the process where someone creates an app without having experience with the old system and not understanding how the app is supposed to be used. It is quite common that UX designers do not have that kind of knowledge, but then they have to make sure to include people who have it (workshops, interviews, prototype testing, etc.).
I am not saying that white space is always good the way it is used today, but the problem isn't a clean look. The problem is a dysfunctional design and the process that caused it.
- frosted-flakes 8y agoThe quote about dictionaries refers to paper dictionaries, does it not?
- arendtio 8y agoWell, the paper dictionary is one implementation of a dictionary. Conceptionally, a (language) dictionary is a tool to translate words from one language to another. When you implement it, you have to take into account what you can do to make this tool as useful as possible for your user. Since traditional paper can't change what is written on it, you are a bit limited and simply write down the database in an ordered way to help the user find what he needs. On electronic screens the concept can be implemented in a better way, so doing it exactly the same way as on paper would be a bad design. So discussing a given design without looking back to the concept that should be implemented, will often bring you just to a local, but not to a global optimum.