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The Importance of White Space in UI Design

Space is often an overlooked aspect when it comes to design. As viewers, we always appreciate the intricate UI design elements and texts. But what makes them so well-defined and presentable to our eyes? That is where the empty space around these design elements comes into play.

In this blog, we will focus on the importance of white space in a user interface. Additionally, how it helps in arranging elements into a more meaningful design. 

Definition of White Space

White Space, also known as negative space, is the empty space around the design elements of a user interface. The name stems back to previous years when white paper was mainly used for printing as it was cheaper than color. At present, it can be regarded as any region on the user interface not occupied by any design elements. 

You may wonder why is it necessary to pay attention to an empty space in our user interface?

Well, white spaces help the interface breathe a little. Equally, for users interacting with your interface. Having some space is essential to help you digest chunks of information. 

Let us relate to one real-world example like Public Speaking. What are your thoughts when the speaker you are listening to doesn’t use any pauses in their speech? First and foremost, the speaker needs to pause for a second just to catch their breath and also for you to get enough time, as a listener, to digest information due to lack of pauses. Similarly, it is crucial to maintain some white space in your user interface.

Types of White Space

There are two types of white space to keep in mind when designing: 

Macro Space

Also known as active spaces are the large spaces between the major elements and the space surrounding the design layout. You can find macro spaces on most website content. Google search engine is a fantastic example of utilizing macro space on their homepage.

Micro Space

Also known as passive spaces are the small spaces between the design elements. You can find these spaces between texts and other graphical elements. 

When designing, it is good to understand these differences. And keep them in mind to make a stunning UI design.

Why is it crucial to have white space in your UI design?

Designers often face challenges such as clients regarding negative spaces as wasted space that could be utilized better to fill some content. Additionally, there are subjective debates about whether white space would make the interface more appealing. 

However, here are a few qualities why white space makes your design better:

  • Improves comprehension

Having white spaces helps us to digest the content better. Having all design elements and texts grouped together can leave us confused. However, having sufficient spacing between elements makes the content easily scannable. Hence, we are more likely to interpret the message and retain information. 

  • Improves readability

It would be an uncomfortable experience if we read texts with minimal spaces between each character. Having sufficient spacing between texts and line height improves readability for the user and makes sure they can interpret the right message.

  • Delivers an aesthetic appeal

Crowding all the design elements together will often give users an unpleasant visual. However, maintaining good amounts of space between elements makes your user interface more attractive and invites users to interact with your app or website. Moreover, it gives users a few seconds to roll their eyes from one beautiful element to another.

  • Builds relatability 

Did you know space can determine if the objects are related to one another? When there is minimal space between two separate design elements, users will perceive them as interconnected and relatable. However, when you increase the space between those same elements, users will perceive them now as unrelated elements. 

It is truly fascinating how white space can change the entire perception with the slightest tweaks. One of Gestalt principles, known as the Law of Proximity, inspires this concept. The Law of Proximity defines objects that are close to each other tend to be grouped together.

  • Highlights important information 

When you want a particular design element to grab attention, use white space to guide it to your user’s vision. As humans, our attention span is not the greatest, and seeing a disorganized webpage will make it hard to identify important pieces of information. However, as designers, you are the architect and can use white space to guide the user’s eyes to the most crucial pieces of information. 

Few ways to make good use of white space

Now that you have understood the effect white space has on your design, here are a few tips you can consider for making efficient use of those void spaces:

  • Make your texts more legible. Make good use of letter spacing and line spacing in your paragraphs. Ensure they are not too close to one another and, on the other hand, not too far as well. 
  • Create your own spacing pattern to form a visual hierarchy. Maintain uniform spacing between every header, subheading, and body text to give a clean look to your page. Likewise, adjust the spacing for every design element in your screen to make it look consistent throughout your interface.
  • Ensure you give space around the most important pieces of information. E.g., when it comes to call-to-action buttons, make sure there is enough space around them to grab the user’s attention. Otherwise, the user will take time to find it. 
  • Having white space around can load your page faster. Having too many intricate designs can take up more memory. Hence, proper use of white space can help your webpage load more efficiently.
  • Pay close attention when making elements relatable. Spacing is crucial, especially in Forms. Ensure the text is closer to the designated fields. Thus, helping users understand what to fill in those fields.
  • Don’t just rely on white as your negative space. Feel free to use many colors. It is essential to have good contrast between your elements and the background. E.g., for light-colored elements, a dark-colored background is an ideal choice.

Seize the gap….

White space helps designers in making appealing designs complete. It can give a brand identity and a majestic look. Despite being widely overlooked, it is essential to communicate their importance to stakeholders for delivering the right message. 

As designers, ensure to take full advantage of the space and make your user interface visually pleasing. In what ways do you use white space to express your UI design? 

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