The Cognitive Abilities of the Human Mind
summary
Covers ten Gestalt principles (proximity, similarity, closure, figure/ground, continuation, invariance, focal point, common fate, simplicity, symmetry) and concrete UI failures: Gmail list grouping breaks when spacing is removed, hamburger and flattened icons lose emergence so users misidentify functions, LinkedIn shows a working bright blue CTA example, flat buttons remove press cues so users tap repeatedly. Practical rules include don't steal the white space and users don't read labels with real-world peppermill, chair and faucet anecdotes to show affordance failures.
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chapters (15)
- 0:00Start
- 2:39Gestalt Laws
- 4:22Proximity
- 5:20Similarity
- 8:35Continuation
- 10:01Closure
- 11:04Emergence
- 13:33Invariance
- 14:52Multistability
- 15:48Focal Point
- 16:53Common Fate
- 17:40Simplicity
- 18:46Symmetry
- 21:08Figure and Ground
- 34:47Bigger labels!
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