Which of the following is NOT a guideline for using white space on web pages?

• A. Improve a page's readability and understandability
• B. Emphasize objects on a page
• C. Make a page look more professional and elegant
• D. Decrease page size

Answer: (D)

White space is used to structure content, improve readability, and guide the user’s attention. When you leave breathing room around text, images, and interactive elements, it becomes easier for readers to scan and understand the page. That breathing room also helps emphasize important objects—for example, a call-to-action or a key image stands out more when it isn’t crowded by surrounding content. A clean, balanced layout created with thoughtful whitespace often feels more professional and elegant, reinforcing a sense of quality and care in the design.

The guideline about decreasing page size isn’t about whitespace. The actual size of a web page—how much data needs to be downloaded or how much content is present—depends on the elements, images, and code, not on how much whitespace appears on the screen. In fact, using whitespace can sometimes increase the footprint of the page layout or require more markup, even though it makes the page easier to read and navigate.