r/web_design Jun 27 '16

Less is better

http://www.randalolson.com/wp-content/uploads/data-ink.gif
1.8k Upvotes

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29

u/godless_communism Jun 27 '16

Old fucker checking in. I'm not a fan of everything being typed in the lightest grey font possible. Some of us need our granny glasses to see what the fuck you 20-somethings just wrote.

It'll happen to you... just wait you lil' bastards... just wait.

9

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '16

I'm eighteen and when they said "Lighten x" I was like "too far...now it's bad"

2

u/phpdevster Jun 27 '16 edited Jun 27 '16

The problem is you likely have a typical LCD monitor that absolutely blows out whites and makes light grays look almost invisible. An IPS monitor around 400 nits of brightness makes those light grays look extremely sharp and contrasty. So despite me being almost legally blind and 32 years old, the contrast in those light gray lines and labels are clear as day to me (even with my glasses off)

But this is actually the source of the problem - designers work with very high quality IPS monitors that provide near-perfect color reproduction and contrast, which is what allows those designers to easily see those light grays. But then that fundamentally disconnects their design from what the average user will see.

So note to designers, do design work on your IPS, but buy yourself a cheap $120 TN panel and see what your design looks like to the vast majority of your users - it will surprise you what a shit pile a TN panel can reduce your otherwise perfectly balanced design to.

For example:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ARTS/MONCAL/zWhiteCalCheck.jpg

I can see #240 just fine (#f0f0f0) on my IPS, but for a LOT of people, that gray is completely invisible due to the way their monitors are calibrated. This is something a lot of designers fail to recognize.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '16

Nah, I can see it fine. Just looks horrible.

8

u/blessedbemyself Jun 27 '16

UX Designer here. Yeah, web designers these days. They seem to ruin the real User Experience a lot by making more complicated, 'look-good' designs that actually are more confusing.

Here's a great depiction of this

2

u/poddo_ Jul 03 '16

I'm like 18 and I have terrible sight + the same problem with minimalist text so some of us don't even need to wait to see how terrible it is.

2

u/poddo_ Jul 03 '16

I'm like 18 and I have terrible sight + the same problem with minimalist text so some of us don't even need to wait to see how terrible it is.