The Law of Prägnanz states that our perception strives to organize complex visual information into the simplest and most concise forms possible. This principle influences our perception of patterns and structures by causing us to favor simple, geometric, symmetrical, regular, and orderly interpretations of shapes over more complex ones.

Our brain basically follows a heuristic called Occam's razor, also known as the principle of parsimony, by always preferring the simplest of several possible interpretations. This simplification of what is seen makes it easier and more efficient to process information.

Origin

The Law of Prägnanz was formulated by the Gestalt psychologists Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka in the early 1920s. It is one of the fundamental principles of Gestalt psychology, which studies how people organize and interpret visual information.

  • Wertheimer, M. (1923). Laws of Organization in Perceptual Forms
  • Koffka, K. (1935). Principles of Gestalt Psychology

Application in UX and UI design

UI designers should take into account that visual forms can be interpreted in different ways. In particular, the context, such as the surrounding free space, the background color and neighboring forms, play a major role in the interpretation of forms.

Our perception is geared to providing the simplest possible interpretations and sometimes disregards details or interprets shapes differently than intended.

For example, two simple symbols placed very close together may be interpreted differently by our perception than if they were placed alone.

 

The word 'USA' emerges from the close proximity of shapes.The word USA can only be recognized when the left and right shapes are close together. If they were further apart, no one would think of reading the word USA. In this way, two shapes that are independently interpreted differently result in a completely new interpretation when put together.

Impact on the User Experience

medium

Further information