Gestalt principles are one of the most powerful tools you can have at your disposal as a Product Designer. They are a set of rules backed by robust research that define how we visually interpret everything around us, how we recognize patterns, how we perceive groups of objects, and how things are structured.

This episode covers the principles of proximity, similarity, continuity, and closure.

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References:

• Wertheimer, M. (1923). Untersuchungen zur Lehre von der Gestalt. Psychologische Forschung, 4, 301-350. (In German) Koffka, K. (1935). Principles of Gestalt psychology. Harcourt, Brace & Company.
• Köhler, W. (1920). Die physischen Gestalten in Ruhe und im stationären Zustand. Erlangen: Philosophische Akademie. (In German)
• Nathalia Bustamante. “What Is Gestalt Psychology: Theory & Principles.” Simply Psychology, 7 Sept. 2023, www.simplypsychology.org/what-is-gestalt-psychology.html.
• Wagemans J, Elder JH, Kubovy M, Palmer SE, Peterson MA, Singh M, von der Heydt R. A century of Gestalt psychology in visual perception: I. Perceptual grouping and figure-ground organization. Psychol Bull. 2012 Nov;138(6):1172-217. doi: 10.1037/a0029333. Epub 2012 Jul 30. PMID: 22845751; PMCID: PMC3482144.