Whitespace
The empty space between and around things, which makes a screen feel calm and easy to read.
What it is
Whitespace is the space left empty: margins around the page, padding inside boxes, gaps between sections. It doesn't have to be white; it just has to be empty.
More whitespace usually makes an interface feel more premium and easier to scan, because it groups related things and separates unrelated ones. Cramped screens feel cheap and stressful.
Two words that come up: padding is space inside a box (between its edge and its content), margin is space outside it (between it and its neighbors).
How to ask for it
“It looks cluttered and cheap. Make it look more premium.”
“Increase whitespace throughout: 48px between page sections, 24px padding inside cards, and a max content width of 1100px centered. Use one spacing scale (4, 8, 16, 24, 32, 48) everywhere.”
"More premium" is a feeling; "whitespace" with concrete spacing values gives the builder the actual lever behind that feeling.
You've seen this in
- AApple's product pages
- SStripe's dashboard
- MMedium's article layout