Fear of white space
Oct 30, 2020
Next time someone complains that a UI has too much white space show them the definition of horror vacui. Horror vacui, also known as keno-phobia, describes the temptation of making sure that the entire visible area of artwork is filled with detail. Horror vacui comes from the Latin and literally means fear of empty space. Translated to modern-day, you can say that people that can’t stand too much white space feel horror vacui.
Interestingly, it turns out that there is “a general inverse relationship between horror vacui and value perception” (in Universal Principles of Design, Lidwell et al., pp. 128–129). As you fill empty space with information or artifacts, the perceived value of your product decreases.
