Rosenholtz next plans to offer this visual clutter tool, as well as other tools developed in her lab, to designers as part of a user study. She hopes to learn what insights designers get from knowledge of how a user will likely perceive their designs, and how best to present this information to the designers.

Rosenholtz provides free software written in MATLAB to anyone interested in generating color and contrast "clutter maps" to gauge the clutter level of a display. The tool is available at hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37593.

This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research and by the National Science Foundation.

Hey, Haraya. Paul Graham wrote an interesting article on clutter:

And unless you're extremely organized, a house full of stuff can be very depressing. A cluttered room saps one's spirits. One reason, obviously, is that there's less room for people in a room full of stuff. But there's more going on than that. I think humans constantly scan their environment to build a mental model of what's around them. And the harder a scene is to parse, the less energy you have left for conscious thoughts. A cluttered room is literally exhausting.

I either organize or disorganize depending on my mood. My room's pretty cluttered these days... must explain why I feel tired whenever I get home. Thankfully, the house is always in exceptional order.

On the other hand, I also believe that art can thrive in chaos.

Thanks for the link, Kore. Haven't read the article but I will make time for it before the day ends. The current state of my desk tells me that I need to read it.