Gestalt Principles

Important set of principles. To made your interface more simple and experience better…

Principles include:

• Closure (Reification): Preferring complete shapes, we automatically fill in gaps between elements to perceive a complete image; so, we see the whole first.
• Common Fate: We group elements that move in the same direction.
• Common Region: We group elements that are in the same closed region.
• Continuation: We follow and “flow with” lines.
• Convexity: We perceive convex shapes ahead of concave ones.
• Element Connectedness: We group elements linked by other elements.
• Figure/Ground (Multi-stability): Disliking uncertainty, we look for solid, stable items. Unless an image is truly ambiguous, its foreground catches the eye first.
• Good Form: We differentiate elements that are similar in color, form, pattern, etc. from others—even when they overlap—and cluster them together.
• Meaningfulness (Familiarity): We group elements if they form a meaningful or personally relevant image.
• Prägnanz: We perceive complex or ambiguous images as simple ones.
• Proximity (Emergence): We group closer-together elements, separating them from those farther apart.
• Regularity: Sorting items, we tend to group some into larger shapes, and connect any elements that form a pattern.
• Similarity (Invariance): We seek differences and similarities in an image and link similar elements.
• Symmetry: We seek balance and order in designs, struggling to do so if they aren’t readily apparent.
• Synchrony: We group static visual elements that appear at the same time.