How the Gestalt Laws are Guiding Your Users Positively in Interpretation.
Perspective from the Oxford Handbook of Historical Psychology
A Psychological system that arrived from Europe was the Gestalt psychology. The movement bagin in Germany in the early part of the 20th centruy and had ipact in the United States in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Central to Gestalt psychology was the argument that trying to understand psychological phenomena through the process of analysis into component elements was misleading at best.
The Gestaltists, the whole experience of the behavior was always greater than the sum of the individual mental elements or reflexes.
Germans that Shaped the Laws
Gestalt is a German word. It means “shape” or “form. The group of psychologists formed it in the early 20th century. Fathers of the theory are Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler. Gestalt psychologists were interested in looking at the mind behavior. Principles describe the way we perceive the world.
The Laws of Interpretation
The key fundamental rules of gestalt systems are periodicity, symmetry, proximity, and similarity. Also, as an user we tend to close objects, interpretate objects that are placed in the same region, that have the same blend or colour, or seem to placed in the same symmetry.
1. Common Region
Objects placed within the same region are perceived to be in the same group. This is similar to the Proximity Principle.
2. Periodicity
Elements that appear multiple times at similar distances are perceived as related.
3. Figure Ground Principle
The human eye is able to separate objects on different plans of focus. We know which elements are placed in the foreground and which ones are in the background intuitively.
4. Symmetry Principle
Our mind perceives symmetrical objects as parts of the same group. They create an impression of stability and order.
5. Proximity
Our brain perceives these sets of closely placed elements as groups. Proximity is so essential to our perception that it is stronger than other features like shape or colour.
6. Similarity
Elements that have similar visual appearance seems to be more related or grouped than the ones not sharing the same attributes.
7. Continuation
When the eye is guided to move from one object to another, we speak about the law of continuity. Our perception tends to see objects arranged in lines or curves as more related or grouped.
8. Closure
Objects are often perceived as a whole thing, even when they are incomplete. Our mind quickly fills the gaps and helps us to find the meaning and intention of a particular thing.
Give Shape to your Communication
Several interpretation rules and patterns have been published that are based on these Gestalt Laws. If you want to give shape to the world in your field of industry, it is urgent to become familiar with interpretation laws.
Having an in-depth understanding level of how your users are perceiving your defined shapes, starts by understanding what you want to give shape. In our latest article, we have been writing about how there is a bridge from the encoder to the decoder, where the interpretation is in between. Every decoder perceives communication based on culture, knowledge and experience level.
Best Practice
Find our latest client case for Rezzonation, a broadcasting platform that combines all the streaming providers into one mobile application. Stream providers such as Netflix, Amazon Video, HBO are included. Thus, you don’t have to navigate between the content from several platforms. After adding your streaming licenses, all your content will be exclusively filled within the One Application.
