“Every great design begins with an even better story” — Lorinda Mamo, Designer
There is an old famous quote from Sir Henry Ford,
“We have always found that, if our principles were right, the area over which they were applied did not matter. Size is only a matter of the multiplication table.”
We always have been going through in our days whether in schools, or in colleges or even in our organization where we had to follow the rules but many of them still had problems to follow them as in case they do not follow then they will be strictly punished or they will be corrected. Right? So here, the question which comes out first is whether rules and principles both are the same? or are they slightly different
Let us understand, Although both things determine the way you act and take decisions, rules are imposed from the outside and must be obeyed to avoid incurring some kind of penalty (a punishment, a fine, a layoff, a season in jail, etc.) whereas principles are internal, and force you to do what you think it is right or correct.
So, based on that we can understand when we apply with design principles there are many principles which we adapt and learn and apply for better design aesthetics, workflow and also for better key understanding. One of the most common principles followed in UX Design policy is
Gestalt Principles.
So what is Gestalt Principles
Gestalt Principles are simply the principles of human perception which provide a description on how humans actually group similar elements, try to recognize patterns and simplify complex images when trying to perceive objects. People are subconsciously connected to patterns and they have a tendency to link design components.
Lets have a look at few of his principles which is as follows.
Similarity : In this case, The human eye tends to build a close relationship between those things which are similar with respect to look and feel. so, what it means is that when there are similar design of similar patterns, then the human eye will form a close relationship between the elements within the design. This process is achieved using common elements or components with basic shapes or basic colors or size.
Continuation: Here like the name suggests there should be some kind of continuation or consistency with respect to elements used in design which could be line, curves, fonts, or it could be as human eyes tend to see continuous flow of visual elements rather than separated objects
Closure: This is pretty important one, Closure basically here means a complete one, where as human eye prefers to see complete shapes, If the visual elements are not complete, user can try to perceive a complete shape by filling in missing visual info
Proximity: Simple elements and shapes organised and arranged together to create a more complex image.
Figure/ Ground: Human eye isolates shape from backgrounds.
Symmetry and order: The design should be balanced otherwise, the user will spend time and effort trying to perceive and overall picture
I have tried to explain it further with this animation which I had done during my time of leisure for better understanding. Have a look :)
Keep in mind that in case with web and interactive design, This relationship may be either physical or conceptual. You can make the most of this natural human inclination by helping your user’s eye to discern parts of your design you want to accentuate.
These principles are one of the key ones which help in understanding and designing things better.
