> I am a power user of all sorts of software that I sorely wish had a less cluttered and “more white space” or “more aesthetic” experience

I would add to this with the observation that the existence of "power users" is very likely a sign that the system is poorly designed.

Obviously some things are just really complex and there is no way around that. But most things are not. A good system will easily and intuitively solve the user's problems without them needing a degree from NASA to understand how to use it.