![]() We tend to group elements together when they look similar based on visual characteristics like color, shape, motion, and orientation.įor interface design, these kinds of similar visual elements help users group information that is related or have similar functions. Page elements like headings, images, descriptions, prices, buttons and page links can be grouped to communicate categories, making the interface easy for users to scan and understand. In interface design, we communicate the relatedness information by grouping elements together and using white space to create distance among groups. We perceive the components within a group as related to each other, and we perceive separate groups as having differences from one another. According to the Gestalt law of proximity, the closer that objects appear to one another, the more likely we understand them as groups. Proximity refers to the distance among objects. Though there are many of them, I’m going to talk about three Gestalt Laws that are specific to visual grouping and how they are related to interface design. There is a long list of Gestalt Laws that explain how our brains tend to perceive visual information. Funny anecdote: the popularity of Pac-Man in the 1980s altered how people started describing this image and threw off unsuspecting researchers. The Kaniscza Triangle is an example of how we perceive shapes as more complex than the present elements. In actuality, this image contains six separate, unconnected shapes. This image shows a white triangle pointing downward, sitting atop an upward-facing triangle and three circles. The Kanicza Triangle, created in 1955, is a simple example of Gestalt. In the decades since many researchers have studied how Gestalt principles can predictably explain visual perception. Wertheimer realized that our eyes could be tricked into seeing movement that isn’t there, which means, compellingly, that our everyday visual experience also includes elements that are not there. A stroboscope is a mechanical device that creates the illusion of movement by rapidly showing two images. The origin story of Gestaltism is that in 1911 psychologist Max Wertheimer bought a toy stroboscope while taking a train ride in Germany. What does Gestalt have to do with UX design? Good visual design supports order and clarity, making it easy for users to understand a visual interface. Our brains are skilled at extracting and interpreting the visual meaning and order from clues like color, texture, relative size, orientation, proximity, edges, and motion. Gestalt is a German word meaning ‘form.’ In Psychology, Gestalt refers to the idea that humans perceive visual elements as a cohesive whole - and that whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This article is a shortcut to learning Gestalt basics and a reminder that there are long lines of research that feed into the principles of good user experience design that many designers instinctively know or learn. ![]()
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