[Sigia-l] Use of whitespace (was Length of nav labels)

[Eric Reiss]

Jared wrote:
> However, specific to whitespace and information density, our
research also shows that whitespace (non-information bearing space)
is inversely related to task success.

Jared, I'm assuming you're referring to chapter 6 of your 1997 book.
Could it be, however, that white space is actually incidental and
that the success or failure of a site actually rests on other
parameters?

For example, if a site has a lot of white space, it could mean that
content is spread too thinly across many pages so that the user is
forced to pogo-stick, etc.

Personally, I've never observed that white space had a significant
effect on the success of a site. Interestingly, I suspect that this
is also culturally determined:

A Scandinavian site with a lot of white space may test well in
Scandinavia, but many Japanese look at it and ask "When are you going
to finish it?" The Japanese seem to expect websites to be crowded and
appear to think white space is a waste of space.

Have any Asian IAs observed this, too, or am I completely off base?

Best,
Eric
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