Most web and mobile users look for zip and jazz and wow factors in their interfaces. I am in love with simple interfaces.
Therefore, I applaud the Nieman Journalism Lab for their "View in Zen Mode" button. What could be simpler? You're reading along in an article, and you want to focus on it. You push the "Zen Mode" button and whoosh! all the distractions of left columns and right columns and headers and footers fall away and magically, you're just - reading the article. Sweet.
Try it out on this terrific article by Ken Doctor: "The newsonomics of the long goodbye: Kodak's, Sears', and the newspapers'" and see what you think. (Hint: The "Zen Mode" button is on the right).
The article in regular mode (a few distractions, like most Web articles)
The article in "Zen Mode" - mmm, lots of white space. Doesn't look exciting in this little screen capture but when you're reading it, it feels very, well, Zen. I feel calmer already.
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