My friend photographs rooms. She works in black and white and she works very slowly. Every picture she takes begins with a longer act of walking around the room and moving things out of frame.
I asked her once what she was doing. She said: I'm finding the one thing that has to be in the picture, and then I'm removing the things that are arguing with it.
Arguing
It's a good word. Most interfaces I use argue with themselves — a toolbar wants to be the point, a sidebar wants to be the point, a badge wants to be the point. The thing you came for has to shout over all of them.
A page without argument is not empty. It is in agreement with itself.
I try to design pages that agree.