Notes Dec 11, 2025 1 min read
Designing Calm Interfaces for Complex Tools
Notes on reducing cognitive load with typography, spacing, and intentional motion in data-heavy UIs.
Lushano Perera
Author
When dashboards sprawl, calm comes from hierarchy, generous spacing, and tiny motion cues that reveal structure without shouting.
- Start with type ramps that privilege labels over numbers.
- Use motion sparingly: fades for context, slides for hierarchy changes.
- Audit every badge and chip—if everything is highlighted, nothing is.
On this theme I lean on the Interactivity API for micro state changes so the DOM stays lean and predictable.