MODULE: Gestalt theory
Step 16 of 16: Conclusion
In order to demonstrate the phenomenon addressed by each Gestalt Principle and Law, I've kept the demonstrative figures intentionally simple and reductive to isolate the impact under scrutiny on each respective page. What really demonstrates the importance of the Gestalt Principles and Laws as a vernacular, or a common Design language with which Designers can attribute and articulate what they are doing, is through examples of how they can be used to discuss and deconstruct Designs. What we need to keep in mind though is that any complete Design is complex, it will exhibit a collection of the theory we have just covered and not one Principle or Law alone may sufficiently describe what techniques it employs. For this reason I've included examples on this page and I invite you to dissect the works not only for the Laws I've identified, but for those that you can see and that I might have omitted...
Why it matters at all
Design is a subjective undertaking, and as skilled and intelligent practitioners our craft often comes under question as being something that is mysterious, incomplete and perhaps frivolous. This is because poor Designers refuse to attribute their works to proper rationale that employs a long history of psychological and cognitive study. The Gestalt Theories we have just covered do just that, they provide Designers a toolkit with which they can lift themselves out of the "I made it orange because it looks good" mentality and hopefully move toward a stronger defense;
We have employed an assymetrical grid that creates a tapering flow of continuity ending on a strongly contrasted figure as the call-to-action against a noiseless ground. It is consistent with the users' past experience of checkouts, in a familiar colour scheme utilising the Law of similarity.
That would be the preffered state of affairs and would begin to suggest at the efforts Designers have taken to demystify Design as an unpredictable art. But it's up to each Designer whether they continue the "fluffy" descriptions of the past, or whether they start treating their trade like a science which can begin to benefit from more respectful discourse. Gestalt Theory is a good first step if you chose the latter.
-nik
Further reading;
Now we should make a distinction here that Gestalt theories of visual perception and grouping ran in parrallel with the founding group's broader assertions of psychology; that "the whole is different than the sum of its parts" (WERTHEIMER). Gestalt Psychology, as a relatively early group of attempts at articulating the human processing of stimulus in the world, has since been found wanting. It is important in a modern landscape to understand that Gestalt psychology (in the context of visual perception) provided Designers a substantial vocabulary with which to identify Design strategies and impacts, though it is not prudent to argue that it still forms a scientific basis consistent with a contemporary understanding of psychology from which to justify matters of visual perception. For further reading on the topic, consider the following;
- Cognitive Psychology (STERNBERG, 2006) An in-depth exploration of Gestalt as one of the contributing schools of Psychological theory, particularly from page 112.
- Gestalt psychology: A survey of facts and principles (HARTMANN, 1935) A much earlier analysis of the virtues of Gestalt theories in Psychology, evenhanded and critical, but quite dated now.
- Phenomena of visual perception (HARTMANN, 1935) A shorter read, one paper constituting a chapter from the above book that forms the Visual Perception component.
- A super-easy-to-read summmary on Gestalt pyschology in form perception by Interaction Design Foundation's Mads (SOEGAARD, 2014). Sign up to SOEGAARD's email newsletters for a regular dose of well-informed, but easy-to-digest, IxD theory.