Design a high density workspace

---
name: design-a-high-density-workspace
category: design
description: Design a high-density workspace that supports rapid scanning, expert shortcuts, clear state, accessibility, and progressive detail. Use when users manage many records, signals, or actions for sustained periods.
---

# design-a-high-density-workspace

Density should reduce navigation cost without erasing comprehension.

## When to use

- Use for operations consoles, editors, trading, support, monitoring, logistics, or administration.
- Do not shrink text, targets, or spacing below usable levels to fit more data.

## Procedure

1. Observe representative tasks, sequence, frequency, concurrency, decision time, errors, and expertise.
2. Model objects, relationships, alerts, actions, context, and required comparison.
3. Build hierarchy through alignment, grouping, typography, whitespace, and stable position.
4. Provide user-controlled density and layout where preferences can be preserved safely.
5. Keep critical status, selected object, filters, scope, freshness, and unsaved work visible.
6. Add shortcuts with discoverable labels, conflict checks, customization rules, and alternate access.
7. Use progressive detail, resizable regions, and focused modes without losing navigation or context.
8. Design overload, stale, partial, disconnected, permission, long-running, and recovery states.
9. Test realistic volume, multi-monitor and narrow layouts, keyboard, screen reader, zoom, color modes, fatigue, and interruption recovery.

## Failure plan

- If density hides state or increases error, reduce simultaneous content or separate the task.
- If customization can make controls unreachable, provide reset and safe default layouts.

## Done

- A workspace model records tasks, objects, hierarchy, density, layout, shortcuts, states, and recovery
- Production-shaped usability and accessibility tests verify speed, accuracy, scanning, interruption recovery, and safe customization