Gestalt principles, dating from the early years of psychology, continue to have strong explanatory power for perceptual experience and can also guide the development of web interfaces. The Gestalt principles help explain the subjective grouping of discrete elements, both within a planar field of view and between foreground and background. They help explain the perceptual construction of 'objects' and groups of objects. The principles were originally validated through 'demonstration' rather than empirical results. This is still the best way to be introduced to them.
Principles of Organization
proximity
similarity
common fate
good continuation
closure
prägnanz (goodness of form)Menu examples
Pages created by Eric Wiebe. rev 11/7/98