How I Incorporate Gestalt’s Principles in to my UX/UI Projects
In web design, it is so important to consider the psychology behind a design. Knowing how to use things like Gestalt’s Principles can drastically improve how users interact with your interface. Keeping these things in mind when designing an interface are what can make the user experience seem so intuitive and seamless-which is exactly what a user wants and needs!
If you’re unfamiliar with Gestalt’s Principles, they are as follows:
Figure-Ground
Similarity
Proximity
Common Region
Continuity
Closure
Focal Point
For a more in-depth explanation of each, check out this awesome article from UX Collective:
Using Gestalt Principles in UX Design
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let me show you a few ways that I used Gestalt’s Principles in my latest project to improve the user experience. For some context, this project is a desktop site I designed for an imaginary company (one that I wish existed) made specifically for people looking for a job in a creative field.
For this blog post, I’ll only be sharing one of the artboards from the prototype I created, and I’ll be discussing how I used three of Gestalt’s Principle’s in this one artboard.
The Law of Common Region
The Law of Common Region essentially states that when items are in a closed off region, we see them as being part of the same group. You can see how this was used in my project in the photo above.
This design allows the user to see the different job postings as separate sections, because they are each in an enclosed area. This overrides the law of similarity, because each section has similar items (the same buttons, a job title, description and profile picture) but visually, we see them as each belonging to their own section. This is the Law of Common Region at work!
The Law of Focal Point
The Law of Focal Point says that the most visually outstanding object will grab the user’s attention first. In the same image above, this law is used for the action buttons on the job descriptions. The bright colors stand out, drawing the eye to them and encouraging the user to complete the action, specifically the “I’m Interested” button.
The Law of Similarity
The Law of Similarity tells us that items that appear similar will be grouped together by the human eye. This rule is often overpowered by the Law of Proximity. In the image above, the job postings are all designed in the same way, letting the user know that they are all the same type of item.
To sum up, Gestalt’s Principles are being used everywhere, even when we’re not aware of it! I used all of Gestalt’s Principles throughout the entirety of this project, and for this blog post I wanted to give you a glimpse into how I utilize Gestalt’s Principles throughout my UX/UI work. If you’re a designer, I encourage you to use Gestalt’s Principles if you’re not already. And if you’re not a designer, look for the use of Gestalt’s Principles on websites and apps you use everyday. I bet you’ll find it quite often!