Today we are going to consider the similarity principle of grouping widely used in design practice. In user interfaces, principles of grouping applied thoughtfully make the perception of layout elements quicker and easier as well as establish the priorities in different levels of interaction. Here’s one of the infographics offered by Vertical Measures blog and visualizing the core description for some principles. These principles are based on the idea that people arrange what they see along with some patterns organized into five global categories: Proximity, Similarity, Continuity, Closure, and Connectedness. Among the various levels of this approach, principles (or laws) of grouping are probably the most essential for designers to consider. When you know the factors influencing visual perception, it makes the process of UX design much more proficient giving higher rates of successful interactions and lowering the level of misunderstandings users could get on this way. Why could designers get interested in this issue? Because it helps understand the psychology of the app or website users better. It works on different levels of perception, but the visual part seems to be the most interesting for designers creating interfaces. When people perceive the complex objects consisting of many elements, they apply conscious or subconscious methods of arranging the parts into a whole organized system instead of just the set of simple objects. The basic idea behind this movement can be caught through the well-known phrase by Gestalt psychologist Kurt Koffka: “The whole is other than the sum of the parts”. It is used primarily in cognitive psychology for the field exploring the laws of meaningful perception of the data which people constantly get from the world that seems primarily chaotic. What is Gestalt theory?īasically, Gestalt is the term that comes from the German word Gestalt meaning “shape, form”. So, today we are going back to basics: let’s start revising how Gestalt grouping principles can affect user interfaces positively. Exploring the ways how people perceive information and using them for building good navigation, digestible copy, and effective color choice has a great impact on the usability of the product – and scannability as its important part. Visual hierarchy in web and mobile interfaces belongs to the domain knowing which designers strengthen their creative potential. Even creative experiments are based on the knowledge of interaction mechanisms and factors influencing them: to break the rules, you have to know them well. Yet, there’s no magic on this way: this skill is based on not only talent but also practical experience and persistence in studying theory, standards, and guidelines which quickly change together with technology and devices. In lots of cases, that’s not bragging but the real skill to see all the details together, to feel the possible pitfalls of the user flow, to find the original solutions not ruining usability. Many designers can boast of having creative intuition and a sharp eye: they add as much passion and feeling into the layout of the future website or app as rational thinking and measurement.
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