Overview
In data visualization, Gestalt principles are used to help viewers understand relationships between data points without explicit labels. By understanding how the brain groups objects, designers can create more intuitive and effective charts.
Key Principles in Data Viz
- Proximity: Objects close to each other are perceived as a group (e.g., clusters in a scatter plot).
- Similarity: Objects that look alike (color, shape, size) are perceived as related.
- Enclosure: Objects enclosed within a boundary are seen as a group.
- Connection: Objects connected by a line are perceived as related (e.g., points in a line chart).
- Continuity: The eye follows the smoothest path (e.g., trends in a graph).
- Closure: The brain tends to fill in gaps to see complete shapes.