I have involved with enterprise application projects last a few years. The data-heavy applications have common problems such as usage of white space — inconsistency over the years of implementation and having monotone content. People are using it for a while that has become a norm and gotten used to it. (someone said “Stockholm syndrome” of user experience) It is fine as long as they can get what they need.
From my recent experience, worked on visual consistency for the legacy application, that becomes so much better look. Hoping the user experience may improve as well.
Rhythm, hierarchy, and contrast are essential.