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I have a summary page design that includes both text and numeric values. The labels are under the values (as opposed to a more traditional left/right approach).
I think the overall look is better with everything left aligned, but I'm running into some push back. Since this is a summary page, is there some flexibility here from a usability perspective? Or should I follow the standard left text alignment, right number alignment?
Right alignment for amounts is better because it helps you to compare them much more easily. It may break your alignments, but you get more benefits from the amount comparison (design is usually a trade-off). The percentage and year do not have to be right aligned because there is no reason.
Also, labels below data is unsual, and it will propably confuse users. I recommend that you place labels above data and increase white space between data to enforce the label-data grouping.
Another option you may want to consider, is to use right alignment for labels. If space is an issue and users visit the screen frequently, this is a much better solution.
