Are you kidding me? It's a science. You have to look for an end spot. If you can limit it to just a car on your drivers side, that's better because chances are there will only be 1 person in the car next to you, thus their passenger side door will never open endangering your door panel. Furthermore, parking next to an island in a parking lot can be risky because lots of those little islands in parking lots have trees planted in them that drop sap.
I'm still divided about whether a car on one side of you is better or parking in the hinterland of a parking lot. Many times I feel as though parking way in the back of a parking lot all by yourself is just asking for vandalism.