Tricking the eye and mind with simple design principles

Tapping into human psychology is another aspect of creating a good design. Tricking the mind, through the eyes, is a concept designers have been employing to improve aesthetics, as well as the overall organization and functionality of the product.

Scientific evidences prove that the human mind has a set of learned instincts on how they perceive their environment. Good designers use this knowledge to create a design that will transcend from the senses to emotions.

I've listed down common design principles you can use to trick your users' mind.

Visual Lay-outs

Humans follow a common pattern when they read. It goes from left to right, top to bottom. The same principle goes on how humans view websites. Studies have shown that the human eye move on an either a Z or an F pattern when they browse online. Taking advantage of this principle, designers place important elements along this path to be easily noticed. This can be the best pattern of choice when dealing with text heavy content.

While this principle can be a useful guide for designers when establishing hierarchy, you must understand that this is not set on stone. In some cases, designers break through this principle and establish different focal points within a page. The elements are arranged based on its order of importance as well as visual cues as to where to look next.

Gestalt Principle

The human mind has the ability to organize complex ideas, thoughts, and images into simpler, generalized concepts, thus making them easier to comprehend. The Gestalt principle deducts this ability into 6 principles namely: similarity, continuation, closure, proximity, figure/ground, and symmetry/order.

Similarity

The human eye is sensitive to similar patterns. Our mind tends to group similar images or objects together, even if they are separate from each other. This principle can be applied for call-to-action buttons which are elements that need to stand out. Users also respond well to uniformity in design. A slight difference in a text alignment, or image size can be noticed easily by users if the elements are intended to look the same.

Continuation

Humans tend to follow a straight line from one end to another, and curved lines from top to bottom. What this implies is, the human eyes follow a specific line of objects. This will be helpful in presenting items for a shopping or retail website.

Closure

Our eyes have the ability to close in gaps in an image. Our mind operates in a way that it creates an imaginary line that outlines an image that has a missing part. Abstract logos are a perfect example of this principle.

Proximity

Proximity refers for the ability of the mind to determine how close objects are to each other. This is particularly useful when grouping elements together.

Figure/Ground

The brain processes negative space differently. It differentiates what the foreground and background is. In essence, your brain will interpret the larger area of an image as the ground and the smaller as the figure. In UX, this can help the design especially if the designer wants to highlight a specific focal point.

Symmetry/Order

The eyes are sensitive to balance in design. It can identify changes in symmetry, and disruption in order.

Conclusion

Understanding the human psychology and how the eyes perceive design elements helps a lot in making design decisions. Knowing the limitations of the human mind helps the designer exploit all possibilities to build a smooth interaction between the user and the product. Employing these principles build familiarity, which is important for users to easily navigate through the product.