Talking Design: Gestalt Principles
Favorite product analysis or product roadmap decision stories (any behavioral stories really) are great chances to show you understand both how to solve a problem and good product design. If you struggle with putting words to why you like a design, try leveraging Gestalt Principles.
The seven most common Gestalt visual perception concepts are figure-ground, proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, simplicity, and symmetry.
When we love the look and feel of a product, we often say:
It has clean lines.
It is simple.
It is easy to understand.
I know where to go naturally.
It feels comfortable.
This is often because a well-designed product follows the Gestalt Principles. Diving into the principles of Gestalt theory will help you increase your visual design vocabulary.
Let’s start with Three
There are 11 commonly understood concepts in design (list to follow), but you know I love the rule of three. Let’s start by trying to grok three of the most helpful to product managers.
Perception
The way users perceive and interact with a product influences their overall experience.
Law of Proximity
Think pattern matching.
We instinctively group similar elements. Items close together are perceived as belonging to the same group.
Visual attributes (color, shape, or size) have the same impact
Continuity and Closure
Sense of visual flow and completeness
Our eyes follow uninterrupted paths.
A good design guides users through interfaces effortlessly
Closure compels users to mentally complete shapes
even if they are not fully depicted
Eleven Gestalt Principles
As we discussed above, the seven most common Gestalt principles are figure-ground, proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, simplicity, and symmetry. But some newer theories (also regarded as Gestalt principles) include uniform connectedness, parallelism, common fate, focal points, and past experience.
Figure-ground
Proximity
Similarity
Continuity
Closure
Symmetry
Uniform connectedness
Parallelism
Common fate
Focal points
Past experience
To keep this article short, I don’t dive into the details. If you love this line of thought, I highly recommend diving into this article from Superside with specific examples and detailed visualizations. (a 6-minute read)
The Product Challenge: Next time you like a product design, ask yourself which Gestalt principles are at play. Then, in your next interview, you can up your game by describing why your favorite product’s design draws you in leveraging a Gestalt principle.
For example:
I love how the AllBirds e-commerce site leverages the principle of common fate when it shows me all the shoes in the same direction. Since objects that move in the same direction seem more related than elements that are stationary or move in different directions, it makes the shopping experience more enjoyable than, say an Amazon page with different shots from different sources in different directions.
Up the Game Challenge: Reflect on a past decision around a product you owned. You might not have used Gestalt principles and known it, but now that you can filter your decisions through this new lense, what do you remember?
For example:
“We were redesigning an e-commerce platform. We reorganized product listings, grouping similar items with consistent colors and placing related elements closer together. This not only enhanced user navigation but also streamlined the shopping process. Moreover, we reduced user friction and cart abandonment rates by ensuring that information flowed seamlessly from one section to another.”
Resources
Gestalt Principles of Design Explained This article has some nice, easy-to-understand visual explanations of the core principles.
Applying Gestalt Principles for Product Managers This article focuses on 3 principles (listed above) as they apply to product management.
