How Gestalt Theory Influences Our Thought Process?

The main element that makes a website more attractive and lively is its design. Design helps to convey messages easily and meaningfully. A good design helps consumers to stay on a page and increases the period of regular visits.

Logos make the company unique. Sometimes we identify the company with the help of their logo, for example, Apple, Microsoft, Puma, Nike, and others.

When we look at this logo of Sun Microsystem from the Sun Microsystem website, as a whole we see a group of the ‘U’ alphabet in a diamond shape. Yet when we split the logo we can see the word ‘Sun’. Have you ever wondered how designers create designs that attract customers to buy products or to make a regular visit to their websites? The psychology behind this principle is known as Gestalt principles.

How did Gestalt Principles of Closure aid in creating Human-Centric Design?

The word Gestalt is a German word, which if translated to English means ‘Configuration’. Gestalt principle says that the meaning that we confer from analyzing the whole is different from the meaning that we acquire from analyzing the parts of the whole.

When we see an image, our brain tries to connect the images with the previously seen images. So, we will get an idea about the image. How a person reacts to the design and how he/she interprets the image can be understood using Gestalt principles.

Gestalt theory was introduced in the 1920s by German psychologists Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler They made an in-depth analysis of how humans interpret images around them.

Effective Use Cases of Gestalt Principles

Gestalt’s definition creates a new face in the world of designing. Designers infuse life into pictures. A classic example of the same is the Unilever symbol from the Unilever website.

When we see the icon for the first time it simply indicates a U symbol. But when we split this alphabet ‘U’ into different parts we can see different logos and each logo represents different products of Unilever. These small icons are combined to form a single ‘U’. This is a simple logo with loads of information.

Gestalt theory is the backbone of designing. The Gestalt definition contains different principles which help to create good designs. Gestalt definition is the response of the molecular approach of structuralism.

Types of Gestalt Principles that aid in Visual Designing

The Gestalt principle contains six types of law, they are:

● Similarity

● Continuity

● Closure

● Proximity

● Perception (figure/ground)

● Prägnanz (symmetry & order)

How does the Gestalt Principle of Similarity Influence our perception?

The Gestalt theory of similarity suggests that it is our basic tendency to group similar objects under the same heading based on characteristics like shape, size, color, amongst others

Gestalt definition has been skillfully used in the USA Network’s logo from USA Networks As we can see from the actual logo, in spite of the fact that ‘S’ isn’t considered as a piece of the actual logo it is consistently recognized or rather read as USA Network and not as ‘U A Network’.This example could be precisely considered a practical example of the law of similarity that is tactfully used to grab the attention of the readers.

Gestalt principle of Similarity – A Real-life Example

We use different colors, sizes, shapes, etc, in our document to make it more attractive in our document. For example, we add links to our documents that help the user redirect the document to the linked document, and the links are given in blue color, but we don’t separate the link words from other words while reading the document.

Similarly, the size of the heading is different from the size of the content and the heading always remains bold and highlighted. But still, we consider all these texts as a single document. There are many daily life examples where we use the law of similarity. Newspaper is another example of the law of similarity from Gestalt definition.

What is the Gestalt law of Continuity?

According to the Gestalt theory, human beings tend to perceive components following a particular line or curve as continuous and contrast to those that do not follow a particular line or curve.

The Amazon logo design from the Amazon website is a good example of the law of continuity. The arrow from the alphabet ‘A’ to ‘Z’ in the Amazon symbol indicates that it contains all the products. The curve in the arrow attracts the people. We focus on the icon in a continuous motion i.e., from ‘A’ to ‘Z’.

The law of continuity can be applied in our daily life too. For example, while filling a form on the online platform they use a line indicator that contains different steps for form filling like 1,2,3,4,5, and 6. After completing each step, each number switches its color to green to indicate the completion. This method helps human beings to fill forms more easily and freely.

How does the Gestalt Principle of Closure help in the cessation of incomplete images?

This law of closure from the Gestalt definition states that human beings generally tend to fill in the missing information of any particular situation for better understanding

For example, the above given although the image of the panda from WWF is incomplete, we tend to complete the image to form a full panda for our ease to understand

Using Law of Closure into practice

We are always eager to fill the space and know the answers. When we see an incomplete image we fill the image and try to understand the meaning. This is the main concept of the law of closure, and this Gestalt theory can be used in designing to attract viewers.

For example, when we add an incomplete image to a web page and ask the users to click next for viewing the full image, the user will undoubtedly click the next button Because the human mind is full of curiosity, eager to understand the holistic meaning of anything incomplete.

On the other hand, if we add the complete image and ask them to click the next button, they likely won’t do so. Since from the full image itself, they understand the meaning of the image. So the law of closure from Gestalt definition can be applied in design to attract more users.

Why did the Gestalt Principle of Proximity become the Strongest Principle?

The law of proximity from the Gestalt definition states that people tend to group the items which are close to each other.

In the above image from Pinterest, the balls are scattered in different places but we assume each ball is a single image. The Law of Proximity is the strongest principle in Gestalt’s definition because the Law of proximity help to hook up the images. The Law of proximity helps to understand the images efficiently. For example in the above image balls are in different shapes and different sizes but we naturally group them into a single image with the help of the law of proximity.

The Law of Proximity helps the viewers to read the text/image in a specific direction. In the above image from Law of UX, the white balls are viewed horizontally and the ash balls are viewed vertically. Human beings view their object based on the law of proximity of the elements.

What is the role of the Law of Proximity in Designing?

Sometimes we create designs and websites without knowing the law of proximity. Yet at last, our designs some or the other way satisfies the law of Proximity.

In the case of the menu, we create the menu on the top-left side of any website with proper spacing. These menus are arranged based on the Law of Proximity. Since menus with a lot of space between icons and labels create a lot of mental complexity for the users. Users often fail to remember the icons.

So it is always better to follow the Law of Proximity while designing any menu. The Law of Proximity helps to group the elements and is easy to understand especially for massive designing.

How the Gestalt Principle of Perception (Figure/Ground) Differentiates Images?

Even after years of research scientists still find it hard to properly define the functioning of the brain. The law of Perception refers to the process in which the brain can differentiate and understand the images from their background. Our brain fills the space in the figure and makes the image into a complete sense.

The interpretation of a particular image or situation changes according to the aspect in focus with respect to time. The above image from A-Mused is a classic example of perception. When we concentrate on the black image we can see a Rubian vase. Like that, if we focus on the white space we can see two faces.

Perception can be categorized into Three

1 Stable

2 Reversible

3. Ambiguous Stable

Stable is a condition where we can identify the image using background. One image will govern over the whole screen.

Reversible

In Reversible perception, both image and background will have equal weight. When we flip the image and background we get two different images. The below image from Toptal is an example of reversible perception.

Ambiguous

In ambiguous perception, there will be a small difference between the ground and the figure. Sometimes the ground and the figure will become a single element. The below figure from Pinterest is a good example of ambiguous perception.

Why is the Gestalt Principle of Pragnanz Important?

The Law of Pragnanz from Gestalt theory states that the human brain tries to interpret images in the simplest way possible.

When we view the Olympics logo for the first time. We see them as a group of rings instead of curves that connect the lines. The law of pragnanz Gestalt theory helps the designers to create attractive designs The law of pragnanz helps to develop wireframes websites

How

Pragnanz helps in designing?

We human beings tend to get things quickly and easily Human beings try to sense things quickly otherwise the customer becomes disappointed and moves to other buyers The law of Pragnanz helps to access things quickly. When we apply the Law of Pragnanz in wireframes, the eye can catch things easily on a website.

Conclusion

Gestalt principles contain a set of laws that helps readers to understand the perception of the image. Gestalt theory helps to create catchy images. Many researchers are still working on the Gestalt definition.

To make a website more attractive we need proper designs. When the icons and labels are placed in a disordered manner, human beings feel discomfort for using the websites. CronJ helps to create websites and UI Designs with proper arrangement and spacing by following the Gestalt theory. We help you to build the software according to the customer’s requirement. CronJ also provides offshore software development which helps the client to build budget-friendly software. Human beings feel more comfortable and have easy access when we follow this theory. So hire us, to make your customers more comfortable.

Reference URLs :

https://www.psychestudy.com/cognitive/perception/gestalt-theory

https://www verywellmind com/gestalt-principles-2795808