Why should lines be avoided in tables?

Question

I read some books about typography and design. They all recommended to avoid lines in tables, and instead to make use of spacing. I found that reasonable and adhered henceforth to those rules.

Recently I ran into discussions with spreadsheet users, who doubted these rules and argued that grid-lines are better since all programs have them turned on by default.

I also read an article that explained the problem with lines: the human eye first has to remove them before it can focus on the content of the table. If somebody would know this one or similar scientific findings about perception of data, I would be glad as well.

Is it in fact better to avoid lines? Why? Do you have any references you could provide to back this up with?

Answer 1

Edward Tufte is the one that coined the term chart junk to refer to extraneous visual elements that tend to clutter, rather than clarify the data being presented.

This can refer to all sorts of things that you tend to see often, but don't really enhance the understanding and--often--actively interfere with the understanding of the data.

These can include:

• arbitrary color
• 3D effects
• excessive borders
• redundant labels
• zebra striping
• etc.

I think this animated gif communicates the concept nicely:

Is it better to remove lines? Usually. The point to consider when dealing with chart junk is that you should use only what is necessary to format the data. Anything extra is just that...extra...and likely not enhancing the message.

Answer 2

I think you may reconsider the issue of your question by focusing on the table purpose instead of any general guideline.

For instance, if the readers need to compare the content of different rows, it may be easier to differentiate each row. You can also consider to implement contrasts between columns instead.

There are several options to make rows or columns distinguishable:

• Alternate background colors (soft colors, so that the contrast still makes text readable)
• Use lines between rows or columns
• Use padding around content in the table

Your choice would depend on :

• What would the user do with your table, and how to make this use easier for the user: this would guide the hierarchy of the read, and therefore your graphic choices
• The size of the content, and consequently, the size of the table: for instance, long lines must be graphicaly distinguishable; it is not so much required for a little table

That being said, in my experience, in most of the cases, I tend to try not to use lines, which are quite heavy. I prefer to use alternate shaded background-colors for rows. And, if required, white lines for columns only. This way, content gets prominent, and table graphics imperceptibly guide the user.

Always consider the table purpose before applying any style.

Answer 3

I don't believe you or your coworker are right. The more important issue is readability. Spacing on its own can effectively do this, lines / shading can often help to use less space.

Here we have a table with pretty normalized spacing and no lines. It's hard to follow because the numbers are primarily designed to be read left to right, not top to bottom. But you have to figure that out on your own:

Now I've used only spacing, which we know from our Gestalt Principles, to make it pretty clear you read horizontally:

However, the entire image got larger. When I could add the same thing with a line or shading and use less total space:

Using total lines however, might as well be like using no lines at all. On its own it doesn't help determine which direction people should be more interested in reading first:

And same thing if we wanted it to be understood vertically first then it might look something like this:

But could also be less spacing if we use a line (I'd probably center this line if I were doing this for real but just doing this quickly):

Answer 4

APA Style uses no lines between rows. A table styled this way has associations with research and academics; a table styled otherwise could imply otherwise.