As long as they are close together, the proximity principle will supersede both shape and color.Įffect on UX design: The proximity principle helps users associate certain elements with each other. The psychological reaction is often so strong that it doesn’t matter if the objects are similar or different. This principle states that when we see objects that appear closer together than others, we reflexively think of them as being in a group. Though commonly applied in visual design, material design, and art, here are some principles that affect how we design products today: Principle of proximity With Gestalt principles, we can take a step back and holistically view our designs to understand how users see them and interact with them. And what better way to do this than to understand the way our minds interpret the things we see, as well as adjust our designs to adapt to what is natural to us? User experience design is all about making processes easier for people who use our products. Basically, our minds will always try to make sense of visually chaotic scenes and find order in disorder. Gestalt psychologists believe that humans tend to think of the things we see as being regular, orderly, symmetrical, and simplistic. Like many design theories, the Gestalt theory builds on human psychology and tries to explain how our minds perceive visual objects.Īccording to the Interaction design foundation, they are laws of human perception that describe how humans group similar elements, recognize patterns, and simplify complex images when we perceive objects. Its major principles focus on the idea that we tend to understand what we see as a whole and not a sum of its parts. In the early 20th century, the psychologists, in this case, were Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Köhler, who all tried to rationalize how we perceive and understand what we see.įounded in Austria and Germany, the Gestalt theory takes its name after the German word ‘gestalt’, which is interpreted in English as ‘pattern’. Conclusion: Gestalt principles around us.

When gestalt principles harm the user experience.

Gestalt principle of similarity