I feel that as an Interaction Designer, my goal when designing is always to create with efficiency and empathy. When I’m sitting down and creating, I’m always trying to imagine how to make my designs even more intuitive, effective, and user-friendly. Because I’m always trying to improve my designs, I look to the established Gestalt principles and Fitts’ Law to remind me of what effective design and innovation look like.
Next time I sit down, I can already imagine myself considering Gestalt’s principles when I’m designing a software’s visual appeal. For another class right now, I’m designing an application for those who have vision impairments, meaning that the use of Figure/Ground is even more important to consider as this creates more contrast. The more contrast, of course, is better for those with reduced vision. Another principle I see myself using here is the principle of Continuity. Placing items along predictable lines would help a visually impaired person predict where to select without having to strain too much trying to see any “call to action” buttons. Even outside of class, building my own brand, I find myself already applying the Gestalt principles. For example, when building a logo for myself, it looks much more stylish if I use the Closure principle as I want to reduce visual clutter while also getting the most out of the logo’s meaning.
When I sit down and start designing software, I also have to start considering Fitts’ Law, where I think about the speed and ease with which a user can reach a main target. Even right now, I have been editing my projects for school to make sure the important targets are larger and easier to reach (with reduced distance to cover). My first iterations of my NUI and Objects project had buttons that were far too small, and were crowded next to the other buttons with little to no differentiation between them all. But like designing for a TV remote, you have to think about Fitts’ Law and how you can make all the difference by just considering the gestures and view the user will have.