I don't mean to be pedantic here, but again, I think you have to further unpack how different parties interpret the word "better." A UI/UX expert trying to dri

I don't mean to be pedantic here, but again, I think you have to further unpack how different parties interpret the word "better." A UI/UX expert trying to drive new user engagement has a different definition of "better" than one trying to lengthen the average user-session length of "power users" above some usage threshold, for a random example. Or someone optimizing the new user sign-up flow. If the goal is information density, then yes, whitespace can often be antithetical to that. If you are trying to make money with a website/app, increasing whitespace can be done for any of a myriad of reasons depending on business goals. The idea of having one answer to "is whitespace better," and saying "experts say yes but I say no" is just such a myopic view of the world of interface design...