As a user, scanning a 2D array of tiles feels like work. I think this might be part of the reason: if I don't remember how a particular app or page is laid ou

As a user, scanning a 2D array of tiles feels like work. I think this might be part of the reason: if I don't remember how a particular app or page is laid out, I have to scan both ways and decide which way makes more sense. Maybe a single convention could emerge per mobile platform, but across the entire web, I doubt it, and honestly, my biggest problem with 2D grids is that scanning every item systematically feel very unnatural, and I doubt I will ever break that habit. Decades of reading has led me to see me to see Roman text as coherent, directed strings, and lists also naturally elicit in-order scanning behavior for me, but 2D grids of squares or rectangles are used for things that require different scanning behavior. When I look at maps, board games, and color or fabric samples, for example, I tend to hop around looking for patterns among groups of tiles, combined with occasional breadth-first scanning outward from points. My first reaction to a 2D grid is never to systematically scan all individual items but to start jumping around impressionistically, and then to switch to a systematic scan if the impressionistic method fails. Naturally, switching provokes irritation, both at myself and at the situation. I wonder if the experience is different for people who grew up reading Chinese.