The human brain is designed to recognize patterns, logic, and structure. These structures are wired into the design to make communication and understandability easy for the person looking at them. Our minds work hard to interpret the things we perceive when we look at the world. The various ways that our minds interpret that order are described by the top Gestalt principles.
The gestalt principles for designers explain, among other things, when and how our minds see various visual components as being a part of a larger whole. In this article we’ll be looking into all gestalt principles, explained with examples and how to use them. To start with, let’s know what the Gestalt Principle is.
What are the Gestalt Principles?
Gestalt Principles for designers are based on human psychology and perception, studied by German psychologists Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Koffka. These principles give an idea about how people think and make decisions – what goes in mind that makes sense and eases decision-making. Talks about how to design an interface that communicates very well. Top Gestalt principles for designers are adapted by both UI and UX designers in order to design interfaces where the design is self-evident in order to communicate the idea behind it. These principles aid designers to control the visual context of an app or website.
There are a total of “10 Gestalt Principles” for designers that come in handy to designers. The 10 Gestalt principles are:
- Simplicity
- Resemblance/Similarity
- Figure-ground
- Connectedness
- Proximity
- Common fate
- Symmetry
- Continuity
- Closure
- Common Region/Area
Now let’s understand each of these principles in detail, along with their usage and examples.
Top Gestalt Principles Every Designer Should Know
Gestalt Principles play a fundamental role in UI design, as these principles help designers understand how people understand and interact with visual elements. So, every designer must know these principles, because once a designer knows the user behavior with the designs, then it is easy for them to create more effective and engaging designs that relate to the audience. So below are some of the top Gestalt Principles for Designers, which they can refer to create better interfaces.
1. Simplicity
The principle of “simplicity” is one of the top Gestalt Principles for designers, which says that whenever any element like graphics motion or image is represented in a complex form or in a combination of multiple images, it should be clear and understandable. This means that when a picture with various shapes is shown, the mind may decide to group or separate the shapes based on which arrangement is the simplest.
It can be used to keep it straightforward and concentrate on the important things only on an app or website. In order to concentrate on what we actually want to say, we as designers should make an effort to keep our website organized and easy to understand. Don’t leave users thinking about what to be done or what action to be taken to move forward to achieve a goal.
For example, Simplicity allows us to focus on the person in a photo instead of the little individual photos, which also happen to be photos of individuals.
2. Resemblance/Similarity
The principle of “Resemblance or Similarity” is one of the top Gestalt Principles for designers says that there is always a common style or pattern which helps users to identify things that are from the same group. It gives a sense of one part. These principles can help you put together the elements such as icons. The resemblance concept can be used to make it easier for users to traverse through designs.
Users will recognize an element’s function and understand that an element with a similar appearance will likewise have a comparable function. Similarity can be seen in – Sizes, shapes, shades, and colors of an element.
For example, the Use of icons that are from one pack makes the design look consistent as well as makes it easy for users to understand the use and action of the icons.
3. Figure-Ground
The principle of “Figure-Ground” is a top Gestalt principle that describes how humans perceive elements on a screen occurring in the foreground and background. In the foreground elements are the focus elements called the “figure” part of the screen whereas, elements in the background are the base. To implement this principle during designing a screen, as a designer you can focus on the figure and ground approach balanced in such a way that the user’s attention is primarily on contrasting features. This also comes in handy to create visual tension and focus attention on users.
For example, A good example of this principle is sorting shapes or colors and collating puzzle pieces.
4. Connectedness
The principle of “Connectedness” is a Gestalt principle for designers which says that visually connected things are related as one. By saying visually connected, it can be a line, arrow, box, or boundary around elements. It eases the navigation process and users can quickly know what part is falling under which section. It makes things appear as one part, group, or chunk of information. To implement this while designing, keep an eye on elements being connected to each other which are meant to be understood as one component.
For example, Navigation system, connecting a dropdown navigation menu within the main menu would help recognize it as the whole navigation.
Must Refer to – How to Become a UI Designer?
5. Proximity
The principle of “Proximity” is a Gestalt principle for designers which says that humans perceive elements placed closer to each other in one part. Basically, spacing between elements describes whether they are part of one group or different. It can be based on shape, size, and color. To understand this, think about any website where on one page there are different things going on but all of them are grouped and separated by spacing. Such as placing a caption near the image, makes it feel like one whole element.
For example, E-commerce product display page, there are a lot of filters, products, etc. All these things are grouped and spaced in such a way that users are easily able to differentiate between all these groups while making a choice or performing any action.
6. Common Fate
The principle of “Common Fate” is a Gestalt principle for designers which talks about humans perceiving things in motion. Things that are moving or pointing in the same direction at the same speed or frequency are considered the same or grouped together. In design, this principle guides users to move in a certain direction. It is not necessary to have elements being in motion always, it can be seen in static CTA on any website or app having a forward arrow that indicates it would take the user forward.
For example, Having a slide-out menu with a forward arrow indicates the expanded slide-out menu as one. Another real-life example can be a group of birds flying in the same direction at the same speed.
7. Symmetry
The principle of “Symmetry” is a Gestalt principle for designers which described a sense of balance and harmony within the designs. It explains that humans are fast and more comfortable around balanced, organized, and harmonious designs while taking decisions as such design guides. By this it doesn’t mean to go boring, what it asks for is to have a good balance even when using asymmetric elements on the screen. Create an optimal use of asymmetric and symmetric elements and they organize placement on the screen.
The idea is to keep users engaged with the design, by creating a sense of ease in design. While designing interfaces, imagine a separator line cutting the screen into 2 equal halves and design according to what type of elements you are using. If the separator divides the screen into identical halves it would be harmonious giving a balanced vision and a sense of ease.
For example, Real life examples would be human faces, having a balanced structure with 2 eyes, and 2 ears balanced out with one nose.
8. Continuity
The principle of “Continuity” describes that elements that are placed in alignment with nearby elements appear to be more related than randomly placed elements. In an aligned element, there is a guiding line, to which the human brain creates a path. To implement this principle in design, focus on creating a guiding path for the user to achieve a goal. Make the actions aligned with each other to avoid any interruptions in the path users have created in their minds to accomplish a task.
For example, Movies are a perfect example of this principle, as it is a collection of a lot of photos merged together at a smooth pace.
9. Closure
The principle of “Closure” describes the illusion of seeing an incomplete stimulus as a whole. The human brain will fill in any blanks or make connections to complete implicit images or shapes. This principle implies that humans like to see the whole picture even if there isn’t one there. It is generally seen in logos. Closure in designs can be implemented by decreasing the number of elements to use while ensuring that users see and understand what is intended to be shown to them.
For example, Such as the FedEx logo. The FedEx logo’s “E” and “x” work together to form an arrow in the empty area between them using the negative space. The ability of the human brain to complete voids in an image and produce a whole that is more than the sum of its parts is outstanding.
10. Common Region/Area
The principle of “Common Region/Area” is often confused with the principle of connectedness, but is very different. It says that elements enclosed under one common region, area, or boundary are understood as one or connected rather than focusing on elements being physically connected with any line or arrow. Enclosing elements that are the same as filters, putting them under one common region are understood to be together.
For example, Such as particular card elements or a product card on any e-commerce website. The information enclosed under one card is related to one specific product including metadata like ratings, price, and images of a product.
Conclusion
Gestalt principles play an important role in the field of user experience design. It bridges the gap between designing interfaces and human psychology. As a designer, it is crucial to know how a user perceives and understands the information. Based on that designer designed the screen to make it easy for users to take action and achieve the goal for which they came to the website. To bring out the best designs it is good to have a blend of design skills and a grip on psychological principles. Now using these principles, you can understand the concept of each of these and implement these to bring the best even smoother user experience.
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FAQs on Gestalt Principles
Q1. What are the top Gestalt Principles?
Below are the top Gestalt Principles that Every Designer Should Know
1. Simplicity
2. Resemblance
3. Connectedness
4. Symmetry
5. Continuity
Q2. What is the Gestalt principle of symmetry?
The Gestalt Principles of symmetry say that the human mind considers symmetrical objects as more organized. Symmetry means a balanced arrangement of elements, where one-sided mirrors the other along a central axis.
Q3. What is the use of the Gestalt Principle in UI Design?
Gestalt Principle uses in UI design to help the designer create a user-friendly interface. By applying these principles, designs can be more clear and more user-friendly and users can understand the pattern more easily and the experience can be more enjoyable.
