AisGuinan of Text Expanders - Voltron
5/21/2019 - 12:48 PM

Reducing Whitespace

Five reasons why reducing whitespace is a bad idea

In Theme Support, we try to avoid making negative changes. Reducing whitespace isn't a change we recommend, as it adds a lot to your Theme! 

* **Increased Content Legibility**: Believe it or not, whitespace between paragraphs and around blocks of text and images actually helps people understand what they are reading and adds up to a **better user experience** overall and **better accessibility** - [which is more important than ever before!](http://digitaldesignstandards.com/standard/accessibility/importance-accessible-websites/)
* **More Interaction**: Visitors are always in a hurry when browsing through sites, and having a good amount of whitespace will **increase interaction** by preventing distractions that slow the visitor down without frustrating them. Even a slight padding around objects will help **draw attention** to a specific area on your site. According to research conducted by Human Factors International, **whitespace increases understanding of your store and products by almost 20%.**
* **Creating Balance**: Too little whitespace leads to confusion, disorganization and unreliability – qualities you don’t want associated with your site’s brand. The key is to balance your designs and let whitespace act as a great tool to separate chunks of content for **easy accessibility** and **improved user experience**. 
* **Acts as a Separator**: Whitespace separates unrelated elements in a design. It can be used to separate images/graphics from each other and improves your overall visual layout. The use of proper whitespace paves the way to a **clearer communication of ideas** and **effective designs**.
* **'The Fold' is a myth when it comes to the web:** [Research has shown](https://medium.com/rareview/the-above-the-fold-myth-f0f93b1b9875) that users are willing to scroll and explore a page, even when the content isn't immediately visible. Having content below the fold doesn't affect how users engage with it -- in fact **[66% of time spent on a site is below the fold!](http://time.com/12933/what-you-think-you-know-about-the-web-is-wrong/)**