# information density

Published articles for information density.

This is one page of public article previews, not the complete archive. Follow Next page to continue. Summaries are not the original full articles.

## Why Your Favorite Websites Look Like 2005 (And Why You Secretly Love It)

DevFeed: [Why Your Favorite Websites Look Like 2005 (And Why You Secretly Love It)](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/why-your-favorite-websites-look-like-2005-and-why-you-secretly-love-it-9281.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://webdesignerdepot.com/why-your-favorite-websites-look-like-2005-and-why-you-secretly-love-it/>)

Author: Alex Harper

Published: 2026-07-28T11:30:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Web Designer Depot](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/web-designer-depot.md>)

Topics: [Google](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/google.md>), [amazon](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/amazon.md>), [Web Development](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/web-development.md>), [Latency](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/latency.md>), [JavaScript](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/javascript.md>), [Font](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/font.md>)

Tags: [amazon](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/amazon.md>), [amazon-design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/amazon-design.md>), [cognitive-load](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cognitive-load.md>), [complexity](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/complexity.md>), [conversion-rate-optimization](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/conversion-rate-optimization.md>), [cost](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cost.md>), [customer-trust](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/customer-trust.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/data.md>), [design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/design.md>), [design-psychology](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/design-psychology.md>), [digital-accessibility](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/digital-accessibility.md>), [digital-marketing](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/digital-marketing.md>), [fonts](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/fonts.md>), [functional-design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/functional-design.md>), [google](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/google.md>), [google-search](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/google-search.md>), [human-centric-design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/human-centric-design.md>), [information-density](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/information-density.md>), [javascript](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/javascript.md>), [latency](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/latency.md>), [minimalism](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/minimalism.md>), [speed](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/speed.md>), [ui](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ui.md>), [user-experience](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/user-experience.md>), [user-interface](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/user-interface.md>), [ux-strategy](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ux-strategy.md>), [ux-usability](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ux-usability.md>), [visual-hierarchy](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/visual-hierarchy.md>), [walmart-ecommerce](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/walmart-ecommerce.md>), [web-design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/web-design.md>), [web-performance](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/web-performance.md>), [website-usability](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/website-usability.md>)

### AI overview

This opinion argues that the seemingly dated interfaces of Google, Amazon, and Walmart succeed because they reduce cognitive load, make tasks predictable, and prioritize speed over visual complexity. It contrasts these designs with heavily animated, asset-intensive websites that can delay interaction and frustrate users.

### Source excerpt

Why are the world's most powerful websites still stuck in the early 2000s? While boutique brands chase "sleek" designs that only end up frustrating users, giants like Amazon and Google have realized that "ugly" is actually a superpower for trust and speed.

## A new visual language for Slack

DevFeed: [A new visual language for Slack](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/a-new-visual-language-for-slack-9120.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://slack.design/articles/a-new-visual-language-for-slack/>)

Author: lcarmen2

Published: 2023-10-27T20:58:07Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Slack Design](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/slack-design.md>)

Topics: [Information Architecture](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/information-architecture.md>), [Slack](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/slack.md>), [ui](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ui.md>)

Tags: [architecture](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/architecture.md>), [communication](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/communication.md>), [design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/design.md>), [evolution](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/evolution.md>), [information-architecture](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/information-architecture.md>), [information-density](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/information-density.md>), [interface](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/interface.md>), [layout](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/layout.md>), [productivity](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/productivity.md>), [slack](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/slack.md>), [what-we-do](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/what-we-do.md>)

### AI overview

Slack designers describe a two-week sprint exploring a new visual language alongside a major evolution of Slack's information architecture. The proposed direction preserves information density and productivity while using gradients, transparent surfaces, rounded controls, and depth to create a more approachable interface.

### Source excerpt

As we embarked on the largest evolution to Slack's information architecture, us designers believed it was the perfect opportunity to evolve Slack's iconic look and feel. While the undertaking would be no small feat, we were inspired to make Slack even more pleasant, more personal, and easier to understand. Make it more Slack-y. We decided [...] The post A new visual language for Slack appeared first on Slack Design.

## Commit messages are not titles

DevFeed: [Commit messages are not titles](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/commit-messages-are-not-titles-20681.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<http://antirez.com/news/90>)

Published: 2015-06-23T08:55:22Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Antirez](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/antirez.md>)

Topics: [Programming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/programming.md>), [Code](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/code.md>)

Tags: [code](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/code.md>), [information-density](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/information-density.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [writing](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/writing.md>)

### AI overview

The article argues that the first line of a commit message should be a concise, information-dense synopsis of the change rather than a title. It supports using a short sentence that can stand alone, with additional details placed in the message body when needed.

### Source excerpt

Nor subjects, for what matters. Everybody will tell you to don't add a dot at the end of the first line of a commit message. I followed the advice for some time, but I'll stop today, because I don't believe commit messages are titles or subjects. They are synopsis of the meaning of the change operated by the commit, so they are small sentences. The sentence can be later augmented with more details in the next lines of the commit message, however many times there is *no* body, there is just the first line. How many emails or articles you see with just the subject or the title? Very little, I guess. So for me it is like: This is a smart synopsis, as information dense as possible. And when needed, this is the long version since: 1. I did this. 2. And resulted into this. 3. And you could reproduce this way. So every time I'll be told again to don't put a dot at the end, I'll link to this article. But no, it's not just a matter of a dot. If the first line of a commit message is a title, it changes *the way* you write it. It becomes just some text to introduce some more text, without any stress on the information density. Coders gotta code, so if something can be told in a very short way in one line, do it, and reserve the other additional informations for the next line, without sacrificing the first line since "It's a title". Moreover, programming is the art of writing synopsis, otherwise you end with programs much more complex they should be. So perhaps it's also a good exercise for us. Comments

## Hacker News Redesign

DevFeed: [Hacker News Redesign](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/hacker-news-redesign-30339.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.mdubakov.com/posts/hacker-news-redesign>)

Published: 2012-04-23T15:41:57Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Blog by Michael Dubakov](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/blog-by-michael-dubakov.md>)

Topics: [color](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/color.md>), [Chrome extension](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/chrome-extension.md>), [Extension](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/extension.md>)

Tags: [article](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/article.md>), [chrome-extension](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/chrome-extension.md>), [cognitive-load](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cognitive-load.md>), [color](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/color.md>), [design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/design.md>), [information-density](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/information-density.md>), [redesign](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/redesign.md>)

### AI overview

The article presents a redesign of Hacker News intended to make posts easier to scan. It encodes post age with color and point counts with circle size, uses larger titles and aligned comments, and hides detailed values until needed.

### Source excerpt

I read the post about Hacker News re-design and didn't like it. The resulting design is not good. It might be better than original design for large screens, but it distracts people from information. Orange numbers, large vote buttons, quite poor information density... I am not a designer, but the problem looks quite simple and interesting. Here is my attempt to create a better design for Hacker News. I am aware about some weak sides in this solution and will enumerate them in the end, be patient and don't fight back right away. First, I asked myself, how people decide that an article is worth they attention? The process is close to this one: Read the title - is it interesting to me? Check points - how other people voted? Check comments - are there any hot discussion? Check age - is it fresh or not? Check source - is it credible? (well, this is somewhat stretched) Currently you have to scan through all numbers of points, comments and age, but that is quite slow. You have to read every number to do a comparison -- quite high cognitive load. Is there a better way? I think there is. I took two most important variables and encoded them: Age is encoded with color. Dark color - fresh news (less than an hour). Light color - old news (half a day or more). Points are encoded with size. Obviously, large circle shows that a post is popular. I took all points and age values from the first HN page and analyzed them. It appeared that 5 groups are enough for age, while 6 groups for points may work. Another idea was to highlight titles. Here I took a theme of Readable HN Chrome extension and modified it. Each news item is a "one-liner" with a large title, so you can scan items easier. Comments are aligned to speed up comparison as well. Here is the final result: You can find important and fresh articles really quickly. This design provides a high level view on all news. I explicitly removed numbers like 1..30 from the page. I don't think they are useful. Something much simpler can be a