Gestalt Psychology and Web Design: The Ultimate Guide
How This Course Will Help Your Career
What You’ll Learn
- How and why Gestalt principles can make or break your designs
- The origins of Gestalt thinking and the principles of perceptual organization
- How to use Gestalt laws in web and product design
- How to take a Gestalt-driven approach to improve a web user’s experience
- How to analyze existing product and web designs according to the Gestalt principles of perceptual organization
One of the key ingredients to a successful product is the creation of effective, efficient and visually pleasing displays. In order to produce such high-quality displays, whether they are graphical (e.g., websites) or tangible (e.g., remote controls), an understanding of human vision is required, along with the knowledge of visual perception. By observing, researching, and identifying examples of our perceptual abilities, we can design products according to these unifying qualities. In order to spread such skills within the world of interaction design, we have developed “Gestalt Psychology and Web Design: The Ultimate Guide.”
Gestalt psychology is a theory of mind which has been applied to a number of different aspects of human thought, action, and perception. In particular, Gestalt theorists and researchers attempt to understand visual perception in terms of the way in which underlying processes are organized and how they help us make sense of the world. The organization of these cognitive processes is important to our understanding of how we interpret the constant stream of visual information entering our eyes and how it becomes a cohesive, meaningful and usable representation of the world. Over the last twenty years, the work of Gestalt psychologists has been adopted by interaction designers and other professionals involved in the development of products for human users.
Within this course, we have compiled and consolidated some of the best resources currently available on the subject of Gestalt psychology and visual perception. To help you appreciate how you can apply Gestalt psychology to web design, we have provided many different examples from existing designs. These draw attention to the exact qualities, quirks, and features of visual perception. Moreover, they discuss how these have been accommodated and, on a number of occasions, exploited so as to support either the user's intentions or those of the designer or client.
The application of Gestalt thinking to design provides us with insights and new ways of approaching problems and challenges. By cementing in our own minds the many ways we organize visual information, we can improve our designs for all users.
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Is This Course Right for You?
This is a beginner-level course suitable for newcomers and experienced practitioners alike:
- UX, UI, and web designers interested in applying Gestalt principles so as to boost the user experience of their designs
- Project managers who want to gain an eye for looking at whether designs are pleasing and easy to use
- Software engineers looking to advance their understanding of how to display user interfaces and graphics optimally
- Entrepreneurs keen to create products that are visually optimized and thus will be more widely adopted
- Newcomers to design who are considering making a switch to UX, UI, or web design
Courses in the Interaction Design Foundation are designed to contain comprehensive, evidence-based content, while ensuring that the learning curve is never too steep. All participants will have the opportunity to share ideas, seek help with tests, and enjoy the social aspects afforded by our open and friendly forum.
Learn and Work with a Global Team of Designers
You’ll join a global community and work together to improve your skills and career opportunities. Connect with helpful peers and make friends with like-minded individuals as you push deeper into the exciting and booming industry of design.
Lessons in This Course
- Each week, one lesson becomes available.
- There’s no time limit to finish a course. Lessons have no deadlines.
- Estimated learning time: 12 hours 26 mins spread over 7 weeks .
Lesson 0: Welcome and Introduction
To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 1 hour 40 mins.
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0.1: Welcome and Introduction (11 mins)
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0.2: An introduction to courses from the Interaction Design Foundation (37 mins)
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0.3: Let our community help you (1 min)
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0.4: How to Earn Your Course Certificate (16 mins)
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0.5: Meet your peers online in our discussion forums (5 mins)
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0.6: Meet and learn from design professionals at an upcoming meet-up (1 min)
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0.7: Gain Timeless Knowledge Through Courses From the Interaction Design Foundation (21 mins)
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0.8: Mandatory vs. Optional Lesson Items (7 mins)
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0.9: A Mix Between Video-Based and Text-Based Lesson Content (6 mins)
Lesson 1: An Introduction to Gestalt Psychology
To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours 14 mins.
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1.1: The Origins of Gestalt Psychology (12 mins)
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1.2: The Underlying Principles: Gestalt Psychology (7 mins)
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1.3: Reification: Gestalt Psychology (12 mins)
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1.4: Multistability: Gestalt Psychology (12 mins)
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1.5: Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organisation (7 mins)
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1.6: Figure/Ground Organisation: Gestalt Psychology (42 mins)
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1.7: The Law of Pragnanz: Gestalt Psychology (9 mins)
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1.8: Visual Perception Biases (6 mins)
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1.9: The Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organisation (6 mins)
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1.10: "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing": Playing with perception (6 mins)
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1.11: "Little Red Riding Hood": Playing with perception (5 mins)
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1.12: "Come with a Story Leave with Another": Playing with perception (6 mins)
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1.13: Shigeo Fukuda: Playing with perception (6 mins)
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1.14: "The Perrito": Playing with perception (6 mins)
Lesson 2: The Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organisation
To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours 3 mins.
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2.1: The Law of Similarity (7 mins)
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2.2: The Law of Proximity (7 mins)
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2.3: The Law of Familiarity/Meaningfulness (8 mins)
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2.4: The Law of Symmetry (7 mins)
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2.5: The Law of Continuity (7 mins)
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2.6: The Law of Common Fate (7 mins)
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2.7: The Principle of Closure (6 mins)
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2.8: 'New' Grouping Laws (9 mins)
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2.9: The Law of Element Connectedness (7 mins)
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2.10: The Law of Common Region (7 mins)
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2.11: The Law of Synchrony (41 mins)
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2.12: Human Perception Biases (6 mins)
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2.13: Pareidolia: Playing with perception (5 mins)
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2.14: Octavio Ocampo: Playing with perception (6 mins)
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2.15: Octavio Ocampo: Playing with perception (1 min)
Lesson 3: The Gestalt Principles in Web Design
To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours 14 mins.
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3.1: The Law of Similarity: Gestalt and Web Design (13 mins)
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3.2: The Law of Proximity: Gestalt and Web Design (38 mins)
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3.3: The Law of Meaningfulness: Gestalt and Web Design (10 mins)
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3.4: The Law of Symmetry: Gestalt and Web Design (8 mins)
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3.5: The Law of Continuity: Gestalt and Web Design (11 mins)
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3.6: The Law of Common Fate: Gestalt and Web Design (8 mins)
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3.7: The Law of Closure: Gestalt and Web Design (7 mins)
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3.8: The Law of Unified Connectedness: Gestalt and Web Design (8 mins)
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3.9: The Law of Common Region: Gestalt and Web Design (10 mins)
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3.10: The Law of Synchrony: Gestalt and Web Design (7 mins)
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3.11: Identifying Gestalt Laws (6 mins)
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3.12: The Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organisation: Playing with perception (6 mins)
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3.13: Steven Bonner: Playing with perception (6 mins)
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3.14: Exploit the Gestalt laws and Tell a Story: Play with Perception (3 mins)
Lesson 4: The Benefits of a Gestalt-Driven Approach to Web Design
To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours 38 mins.
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4.1: The Benefits of a Gestalt-Driven Approach (41 mins)
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4.2: Group Perception: Gestalt and Web Design (10 mins)
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4.3: Group Perception: Summarising with examples (17 mins)
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4.4: Identification of Meaningful Elements: Gestalt and Web Design (16 mins)
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4.5: Distinguishing Items: Gestalt and Web Design (14 mins)
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4.6: Draw the User's Attention: Gestalt and Web Design (16 mins)
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4.7: Visual Perception: Your personal experience (6 mins)
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4.8: Oleg Shuplyak: Playing with Perception (5 mins)
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4.9: "Mr Porter": Playing with Perception (5 mins)
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4.10: "1minus1": Playing with Perception (6 mins)
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4.11: The Gestalt Laws in action: Playing with Perception (11 mins)
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4.12: Colour Decisions: Playing with perception (6 mins)
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4.13: Checklist for Designers: The Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organisation (6 mins)
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4.14: Identifying Gestalt Laws (6 mins)
Lesson 5: Summarising With Examples
To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 1 hour 36 mins.
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5.1: Impose Structure: Summarising with examples (44 mins)
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5.2: Identification of Meaningful Elements: Summarising with examples (18 mins)
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5.3: Distinguishing Items: Summarising with examples (13 mins)
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5.4: Draw the User's Attention: Summarising with examples (18 mins)
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5.5: Web Design Methods (6 mins)
Lesson 6: Course Certificate, Final Networking, and Course Wrap-up
To be scheduled.
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6.1: Get Your Course Certificate (1 min)
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6.2: Course Evaluation (1 min)
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6.3: Continue Your Professional Growth (1 min)
Learning Paths
This course is part of 1 learning path:
How Others Have Benefited
Zelle Gatoc, Philippines
“This is a challenging course but I'm glad it is. Finding and providing web design examples that correspond to Gestalt laws makes it easier to remember much of the course.”
Olivia Booth, United States
“This course is very information-dense and the information is pretty easy to consume in small chunks. I liked how the questions started out easy and then eventually you really had to think and apply what you'd learned.”
Carlos Bernardo Jr, United Kingdom
“It was a very good course. I liked the examples through the sections, because Gestalt could be difficult if we see only dots as examples.”
How It Works
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Control your learning.
Lessons are self-paced so you’ll never be late for class or miss a deadline. Learning and life, hand in hand.
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Earn Course Certificates.
Your answers are graded by experts, not machines. Get an industry-recognized Course Certificate to show you’ve put in the work.
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Advance your career.
Grow your professional knowledge by watching Master Classes, networking within our UX community, and more.
Start Advancing Your Career Now
Join us to take “Gestalt Psychology and Web Design: The Ultimate Guide”. Take other courses at no additional cost. Make a concrete step forward in your career path today.
Advance my career nowFrequently Asked Questions
When I finish a course, do I have to pay extra to get my certificate?
Can I take more than one course at a time?
With a Student membership, you can take a maximum of two courses at the same time. You can still take as many courses as you would like – free of extra charges – just as long as you finish or drop them so that you don’t have more than two ongoing courses.
I missed the enrollment, and now the course is closed. What can I do?
Don't worry if you missed the course. We will re-run it shortly. One of the reasons we continually open and close courses is in order to control the classroom size.
Networking is a large part of our value proposition, so we want just the right number of people inside the courses. That is also why we display the "XX % percent booked" on our course icons.
Do I have to be online at an exact time to study?
No. You can set your own study schedule. There are no "live sessions" since we have members from all timezones around the world. We are a truly global community.
Thus, once you are enrolled, you can take all the time to complete a given course. Every "classroom" in each course will never close, so you’ll have permanent access to your classmates and your course material (as well as your own answers).
Will I receive a Course Certificate?
Yes. You will get a digital industry-recognized course certificate every time you complete a course. Certificates never expire and can be saved as a .jpg file, so it's easy to be shared. Also, there is no limit to how many certificates you can earn during your membership.
You can see an example of a Course Certificate at the bottom of the Course Catalogue.
I have answered questions in a lesson; when will they be marked/graded?
I have updated my name, but my course certificate is not updated — how can I change it?
Don't worry; once you change your name, your certificate will be updated automatically in the next 48 hours.
I have started my course later than the specified date, are my answers still going to be marked?
Sure! We will be marking all your answers for as long as you are an active member.
How are courses graded?
For how long will I have access to the course materials?
You will have access to the course materials for the entire duration of your membership. So, if you pay for a one-year membership, you will have access for one year. Renewing your membership for a second year means you will have access to one more year, and so on.
New lessons are starting before I have completed the previous lesson(s). Am I going to be locked out of these unfinished lessons?
No, you will not be locked out of any lesson or course. You will have access to all course materials throughout your membership, so there is no pressure to keep at the same pace as the specified lesson release dates.
All we recommend is that you try to stick to the same schedule as other participants. The reason is they may have moved on to other lessons, thereby meaning you could miss out on the social aspects of the course(s).
Do I have a specific date to award my certificates?
No, you can generate your certificate as soon as you score at least 70% of the total course points.
When will I receive my Course Certificate?
Course certificates will be given to participants when they have scored more than 70% or more of the total course points. For example, if a course contains ten lessons each with ten questions, you will receive a course certificate when the instructor has awarded you at least 70 points (70% of the total course points).
There is no specified time that certificates will be awarded — instead, they are given to participants as and when they have answered all questions, even if this is long after the official end date.
How do I add my Certificate to my LinkedIn profile?
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to add your Interaction Design Foundation course(s) to your LinkedIn profile:
Log in to your LinkedIn account, then go to your profile.
Below your profile description, click on the button Add profile section, choose Recommended and then select Add license or certification.
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3. In the following fields add:
Name – Course name
Issuing organization – The Interaction Design Foundation
Check the field “This credential does not expire”
Issue date - Input the date written on your certificate (e.g., May 2021)
Credential ID – Your membership ID number – it's written on your certificate. (For non-members, you can leave this field blank or, if you prefer, insert the certificate ID, which can be extracted from the certificate link. This ID will begin with "mcc_" and be followed by a string of numbers and letters.")
Credential URL: Input the certificate URL provided on your course page
4. Click the Save button.
Congratulate yourself! Earning the certificate is a great accomplishment and now you can share it with the world!
How do I add the Interaction Design Foundation Membership Certificate to my LinkedIn Profile?
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to add your Interaction Design Foundation course(s) to your LinkedIn profile:
Log in to your LinkedIn account, then go to your profile.
Below your profile description, click on the button Add profile section, choose Recommended and then select Add license or certification.
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3. In the following fields add:
Name – Membership Certificate
Issuing organization – The Interaction Design Foundation
Check the field “This credential does not expire”
Issue date - Input the date when you joined our community (e.g., May 2019)
Credential ID – Your membership ID number (it's written on your certificate)
Credential URL: Input the certificate URL provided on your profile page
4. Click the Save button.
It is as simple as that. Now, anyone who visits your profile can see your certificate!
How much will I have to pay for the courses?
After you pay for your membership, you can take as many courses as you want with no additional costs. There are no further charges on top of the membership fee.
Do you provide mostly beginners' or more advanced courses?
How long does it take to complete a course?
You will need approximately 5-8 hours to complete one lesson. Each course has between 3 and 16 lessons.
Once enrolled in a course, you will gain access to a new lesson each week, which you are free to complete without any deadlines and no end date, either.
I scored less than 70% in a course, so I didn't qualify for a certificate. Can I try again?
Yes! Everyone's learning journey looks different, and we'd never stop our members from trying again. To retake a course, just follow these steps:
1. Go to your profile and click on the relevant course you'd like to retake.
2. Underneath your progress bar, you'll see a phrase "UX Courses" with an arrow (>) pointing to a clickable landing page of that course. Click on that link.
3. Once on the landing page, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page. You'll see a red button, which you can simply click to drop the course.
4. Head back to our main list of UX Courses, and re-enroll yourself in the course. You'll all set to try again!
Please note that when you drop a course, you will lose any answers and progress you submitted. We advise that you screenshot or save any answers you'd like to reuse.
In some cases, we can open up lessons for members who are retaking a course, so that they don't have to wait for familiar lessons to unlock each week. If you'd like us to do this for you, please get in touch with our support team at hello@interaction-design.org, and we can help you out.
How do I drop a course?
To drop a course, the following should be done:
1. Visit your profile page and click the 'continue lesson...' button for the course you want to drop.
2. Click the course name link breadcrumb near the top of the page that opens (this only appears in unlocked lessons, not upcoming lessons)
3. Click the red 'drop my course now' button at the bottom of the page that opens
