on being dense

Smart article on UI Density - I'm a sucker for anything that cites Edward Tufte. 

Its summary quote is:

UI density is the value a user gets from the interface divided by the time and space the interface occupies.

I think that's good at advancing the art, but it might be falling into the trap of only considering things that can be readily quantified. A UI will live or die based on the mental headspace it takes to understand it. A compacted interface can be off-putting because it requires to much external knowledge to grok it, and so just appears overwhelming.