It's a matter of form follows function, always. But form includes the impression the end user gets. That's why big buttons don't always work. For Knol, that fe

It's a matter of form follows function, always. But form includes the impression the end user gets. That's why big buttons don't always work. For Knol, that feel ought to include a stately manner. Something large buttons don't convey well. With Gmail, there's quite a lot of clutter. Google tends to have a lot of clutter. Curves where you don't need curves, visual tics that don't have to be there. the ribbon that highlights the Inbox. The bulkiness of the selector. I noticed this on Windows, much more now that I'm on a Mac. Google wastes pixels not for functionality but for this idea of a design. They could smooth it out, add much more color contrast, make things more usable while still looking nice, without much of an effort. But they rarely do. Gmail and Google Reader are the two hugest offenders, I find; Maps and their actual Search are good comparisons, because very little space is wasted.