After reading about the Gestalt Principles, I was not only surprised by how these principles contributed to the user experience, but also by how I had been unconsciously incorporating these laws into my own design work. The fact that I have used these principles without realizing it shows how natural and important they are in design. For example, the Gestalt’s Law of Past Experiences states that past experiences shape our perception of visual elements. Given that, designers can make interfaces feel intuitive and allow for users to navigate the software easier. An example would be our understanding of colors and how they are used in real life vs. on apps/websites (like red and green). The Law of Similarity also affects how users perceive design elements, as they should also look similar or dissimilar depending on the intended purpose. For instance, the confirm and cancel button should not be next to each other (they could be though; however, I am unsure if that is considered good or bad design practice given that I have seen both) and should not be filled in with the same color.

As for Fitt’s Law that discusses the relationship between the distance and time of a target in relation to the success of an action, the types of menu designs particularly fascinated me because I recently noticed Pinterest transitioned from their familiar “long-press for pie menu” feature to a rectangular center menu. Being a long-time user, I was unhappy with the change; however, I now understand why it was necessary, as it affects movement and can be unintuitive for first-time users (and probably a bunch of other issues that they found through user testing).

Understanding why these laws exist is crucial for building designs that resonate with users and improve their experience. Now, with a clearer understanding of both Gestalt Principles and Fitt’s Law, I am able apply them more effectively and confidently to my work to create intuitive and user-friendly designs.