Quoted by 37signals on August 24 2010:
Great proportions melt away impurities in a design. So if you have buttons and there’s too much space between them, the space between them is another element that you have to comprehend.
So if you have two buttons, you now have three objects. You’ve got the button, the button, the space. But if things are the right proportions, you just have two items, the two buttons.
And I think over a big screen, if you get the proportions right, you could be eliminating 10 or 20 different extra negative space things and things that you just have to comprehend. So it’s very soothing.
—
Jason during the 37signals podcast Design roundtable – Part 2 (transcript).
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2 comments so far
Rich S 24 Aug 10
Good thoughts. The only problem is that sometimes the right proportions may not be immediately obvious.
Jona Fenocchi 25 Aug 10
Interesting perspective. I think that, often times that whitespace, whether we really have to consciously think about its presence or not, helps to avoid clutter and improve the UX. While screen real estate is highly valued, sometimes you want a little breathing room. I think of it as having a playground on my front yard—it might be overkill when you could just have a swing set and some fresh cut grass. There’s a balance to be desired, wouldn’t you say?
Off-topic: it would certainly be nice if your blog remembered me via cookie, or if it integrated with your products’ login (which is now unified anyway, right?), so I don’t show up as Anonymous Coward without realizing it. ;-)
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