Crowded shelves read as discount; empty pedestals read as gallery. The same psychology governs layouts. Generous margins around a product photo quietly tell the visitor: this is worth your full attention.
Space is information
White space is not the absence of content — it is the punctuation that makes content legible. It groups what belongs together, separates what does not, and gives the eye a place to rest between decisions.
The next time a stakeholder asks you to “fill that gap,” measure what the gap is doing first. It is usually working harder than anything you could put in it.