I do like the way that Engadget currently presents its post surfacing modules in their right-hand column. They’re using solid coloured backgrounds to give a visual cue on how popular a post is. Not only is this breaking up (and visually enhancing) what can be quite text-heavy article pages, they’re also presenting useful information in a more scannable way. The boldness of the design and colours also mean that attention is pulled across to that right-hand column more easily then if it was styled in the usual, module-y way. Added to that, the large font for module headings also works well in the context of the page. Where used well, large typography aids scanning and readability and has almost, itself, become a design element these days.

The number of comments presented is displayed in a ‘speech bubble’ graphic. I’m a great fan of using commonly recognisable graphics to replace text where possible. I truly believe this improves user experience and the page as a whole. People hate to read and where we can reduce that workload without impacting comprehension then we should exploit that.