WTF is "rageskitching"? I Have searched google far and wide for both "Rageskitch" and "Skitch" and as far as I can tell, it is hanging on to the bumper of a car while skating.
3px of padding makes all the difference in the world
81–90 of 92 posts
Re: 3px of padding makes all the difference in the world
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I was a/b testing UI designs for a stable of eCommerce sites, quite often the blatantly fugly design would convert much better. Especially for low-price-driven sites. My personal theory was that people figure the unpolished, crappy looking site is more bargain-driven (kinda like a dingy dollar store in real life). Sticking a giant firetruck-red "CONVERT" button surrounded by flames and rainbows really does sell…
This is also evidenced by Amazon.com still looking really crowded and ugly. They test every last thing and if this is what they're using, it's because it works.
This same concept goes for those horrendously ugly, cookie-cutter, inline sales pages plastered with maroon Comic Sans headlines that have highlighter-yellow backgrounds. I've been there and done that, and the facts prevail. As a good/(as in one that creates aesthetically pleasing things) designer, you actually suck conversion wise.
I haven't done much research behind it, but I believe this has to do with why the flat UI is so pleasing. I can only imagine that it is easy for anyone to notice that it's beautiful regardless of technological/design experience/knowledge.
Re: 3px of padding makes all the difference in the world
#83Somebody should fix his OCD. It's not a bug -- by any stretch of the imagination. Unequal padding is a legitimate design decision as any other other. But I see how it can annoy the hell out of compulsives.
Good designers are often perfectionists. Calling them "compuslives" is dismissive, and is also insulting to people who actually suffer from OCD.
Re: 3px of padding makes all the difference in the world
#84This guy is clearly a moron! That spacing needs 5 extra pixels, not 3!
Seriously though, great blog post. He is exactly right about the need for more spacing. I feel like he buries the lead... the last change he makes to the bottom comment section is a night and day difference. Not only does the last change produce an more significant improvement, it appears to make up at least the number of pixels lost in the extra padding. That should take away any possible objection someone might raise concerning a reduction in amount of content that fits on the screen.
Re: 3px of padding makes all the difference in the world
#85Maybe the original design had the even padding but facebook A/B tested it and found that people are more likely to read the comments below if there is less padding on the bottom? While I agree that is visually looks more balanced, it takes more than my opinion to decide that facebook made a design mistake.
Then they should also A/B test the comments with big red fonts, because it's possible users will read it more.
Re: 3px of padding makes all the difference in the world
#86Somebody should fix his OCD. It's not a bug -- by any stretch of the imagination. Unequal padding is a legitimate design decision as any other other. But I see how it can annoy the hell out of compulsives.
Good designers are often perfectionists. Calling them "compuslives" is dismissive, and is also insulting to people who actually suffer from OCD.
Using the word 'perfectionist' is just as badly fitting for something as subjective as the decision about whether to center vertically or to have the padding on top twice as big as the padding on bottom.
Re: 3px of padding makes all the difference in the world
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
if you believe beauty [ or even readability ] is a feature
why downvote ? I hilite a logical inference : If readability is a feature, then lack of readability is a lack of that feature, which is a bug [ as measured against the goals of the product ]
Readability is not subjective. You answered a question with a non sequitur.
Re: 3px of padding makes all the difference in the world
#88Somebody should fix his OCD. It's not a bug -- by any stretch of the imagination. Unequal padding is a legitimate design decision as any other other. But I see how it can annoy the hell out of compulsives.
Good designers are often perfectionists. Calling them "compuslives" is dismissive, and is also insulting to people who actually suffer from OCD.
>Good designers are often perfectionists.
Symmetry is not perfection. Plenty of unbeatable designs and works of art are non symmetric.
And the poster of TFA is not a "good designer" IIRC, merely some annoyed blogger. I was talking about HIS annoyance with an assymetry (that might very well be intended) and not about some designer sweating the small details.
>Calling them "compuslives" is dismissive, and is also insulting to people who actually suffer from OCD.
It might be dismissive, but it's also quite accurate. Could even be medically accurate for a lot of them.
(Seems you cannot say anything in this day and age without "insulting" someone. So be it. I have mild OCD too, and I could not care less about someone calling me "compulsive").
Re: 3px of padding makes all the difference in the world
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
why downvote ? I hilite a logical inference : If readability is a feature, then lack of readability is a lack of that feature, which is a bug [ as measured against the goals of the product ]
Readability is not subjective. You answered a question with a non sequitur.
Readability is not subjective ?
So you have a mathematical formula for Readability, excellent.
That would be simpler than adjusting things by 3px until they just look spectacular and zing off the page.
Re: 3px of padding makes all the difference in the world
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
Readability is not subjective. You answered a question with a non sequitur.
Readability is not subjective ? So you have a mathematical formula for Readability, excellent. That would be simpler than adjusting things by 3px until they just look spectacular and zing off the page.
You can measure how fast people read. It varies per person but it's not an opinion.
But this is not about readability. It's about what looks 'better', whether you prefer balance vs. having the comments closer. The real debate is about a subjective thing, and not about readability.