Card Grids vs. Dense Data Tables

One of the most consequential decisions in UI architecture is choosing between cards and tables:

When to Use Card Grids

• When items are heterogeneous, visually rich, and users browse exploratively (e.g., e-commerce, portfolio showcases, video catalogs).
• Cards emphasize visual assets and individual item identity over fast multi-row scanning.

When to Use Data Tables

• When users must scan, compare, sort, and batch-edit hundreds of homogeneous data records (e.g., financial transactions, CRM leads, server logs).
• Tables maximize information density and enable vertical column alignment for numeric comparison.