If you overhear a design QA session between a product designer and an engineer, odds are you’ll hear the product designer say something like this:

“C an you add 8 pixels of padding here and also there? … Actually, let’s make it 16 pixels.”

At Wayfair, we are lucky enough to work alongside engineers who are understanding and open to our continuous requests. However, I’m sure some engineers see us as “pixel crazy”. And to be fair, a few of us are. But trust me, there is a method to our madness.

So, why are product designers so picky about padding?

Padding, also known as white space, is the empty space between and around individual elements of a page layout; these elements could be pieces of copy, images, cards, buttons, icons, etc. When used correctly, white space brings visual clarity and balance to a layout.

Think of white space as a breath of fresh air. Just as humans need air to breathe, designs need white space to breathe. Yes, this may sound corny. But I stand by this.

How does Wayfair tackle white space?

As I mentioned earlier, there is a method to our madness. At Wayfair, our product design team follows a strict padding rule to ensure consistency and easy maintenance across site. This rule is embedded into our design toolkit, a collection of user interface design elements that are the building blocks for all of our site designs. The rule states that the spacing between every design element should be a multiple of 8 pixels; this means that the spacing could be 8, 16, 24, 32, 40 pixels and so on. This rule brings intentionality to our use of white space and creates visual consistency across our site experience.

“Rule of 8” in action

How can white space improve the user experience?

It helps maintain focus

White space is a tool that helps guide the user experience. We use white space to create focus points for our users drawing their attention to certain elements. The greater the padding around a particular element on a page, the greater the emphasis on that element. In the example below, focus is clearly maintained on the call to action and the primary messaging.