Use of White Space to Usher in Better User Experience

Use of whitespace in the website design process is becoming increasingly popular in the present day. Referred to as negative space, it is the portion of a page that is left unmarked or kept as blank and occupies the space between graphics, columns, images, text, margins and other elements. Though termed whitespace, the blank space is not always white and can in fact be of any color as long as it is free of any elements like text or images. A great example of white space is Google’s homepage that is filled with white space so we can specifically focus on the search. Google realizes that people browse search engines to find something. By making its search box clearly stand out, Google serves users’ goals and provides for greater interaction. Why Whitespace Matters A primary reason for keeping white space is to provide an element of elegance and sophistication in to the design aspect, thereby drawing attention and accentuating the actual subject. It makes the content standout. It undoubtedly guarantees a better user experience Use of whitespace forms part of the make it simple mantra that has proved itself to be highly effective in providing the best user experience so that they become your devoted customers. Whitespace Offers Better User Experience Presence of whitespace in the design process helps make your website a truly user-friendly one and as we all know user friendliness is one of the critical elements that define the success of a website. Use whitespace as an effective tool to guide visitors through your site and help them reach their goal as efficiently as possible. A generous use of whitespace will make it abundantly clear to users about the type of actions they need to take, whether they are first- time visitors or regular ones. Brings Structure & Meaning to a Website The inclusion of whitespace brings structure and meaning to a website. Users presently are a busy lot and do not read website content in full but scan and skim pages. Presence of whitespace then, makes the major headings and other important points standout from among the rest and draws the attention of users. Improves Comprehension It has been seen that overloading the interface with too much information results in having a cluttered site and makes for a poor user experience. This will result in users’ exiting your site. If however, you design the page with a generous use of whitespace with margins in between, you could increase comprehension by up to 20% as pointed out by Dmitry Fadeyev, creator of Usaura. Whitespace Offers Aesthetic Appeal Using whitespace in website design process helps increase the aesthetic appeal of websites. As minimalism is considered one of the major elements of present day design trends, it necessitates the existence of large areas of empty space. Besides, it is also felt that sites that feature considerable white space is often considered more professional and trustworthy as seen in Google’s  search box. Giving products some extra space then makes them look more exquisite.   In the initial period of web design, whitespace was never considered as something of importance but relegated to the position of leftovers of a web page. But with the passage of time, it has gained acceptance and is now a vital element in every site design. Presence of whitespace helps content standout and makes navigating the site easy and fast. Offering a pleasant user experience is the primary aim of all web designers; existence of whitespace then, will help achieve this very aim.

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