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Perceptual Grouping

How people see things as related based on closeness, similarity and shared borders.

What is Perceptual Grouping?

How people see things as related based on closeness, similarity and shared borders.

What you learn

Things close together look like they belong together.

When it helps

labels seem attached to the wrong things, or related information feels scattered.

Use it at work

  1. Decide which items belong together.
  2. Place related items close together.
  3. Put more space between groups than inside them.
  4. Use shared color, borders or alignment only to reinforce groups.

Your output

Check one form or list you designed: is each label clearly closer to its own field than to the next one?

Watch for

Spacing a label evenly between two fields, so it looks attached to the wrong one.

Related practices

Sources

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