I agree with your approach. The borderless approach works well for sites without a lot of distractions, but most sites are not that way.
Computers and webpages are full of distractions. Most sites are fully of flashing adds trying to grab our attention and other such things. Putting a border around important content makes it stand out and allows our brains to relax and not (as you put it) poll the computer screen looking for what we want.
Craigslist is a good example of a site that has bordered content by changing the background color. Unfortunately, they don't change it enough and all of the text/links on the main page run together somewhat.
Most sites on the internet, thankfully, have realized the importance of borders. If you look at almost any news site, they will have borders around the different sections. Unfortunately, almost all of them also break your rule of not having a navigation panel that goes past the first page.
by Sean Todd — May 04
Computers and webpages are full of distractions. Most sites are fully of flashing adds trying to grab our attention and other such things. Putting a border around important content makes it stand out and allows our brains to relax and not (as you put it) poll the computer screen looking for what we want.
Craigslist is a good example of a site that has bordered content by changing the background color. Unfortunately, they don't change it enough and all of the text/links on the main page run together somewhat.
Most sites on the internet, thankfully, have realized the importance of borders. If you look at almost any news site, they will have borders around the different sections. Unfortunately, almost all of them also break your rule of not having a navigation panel that goes past the first page.