2022 Introduction to Statistics in Research Mitchell 2nd ed

I N T R O T O R E S E A R C H : D A T A V I S U A L I Z A T I O N & C O M M O N S T A T T E S T S

Gestalt Principles Before we start designing data visualizations , I want to introduce you to the Gestalt principles. I’m not a designer of art, but visualizing data will require you to consider some artistic principles of how the brain processes visual clues. Gestalt is a German phrase, and stands for a pattern, figure, form, or structure that

is unified. You may have heard marketing folks talk about the Gestalt principles when they were designing logos or social media components. You may have experienced it when you’ve looked at a design or visualization and said, “Something doesn’t look right but I can’t tell you exactly why I don’t like it.” What do you see when you look at this image? Do you see a triangle? Or do you see three Pac men? This is because our brains turn ambiguous visual information and organize it into something that makes sense – “something familiar, orderly, symmetrical , and that we understand” (User Testing, 2020).

Table 152: Source - The Inspired Eye – An example of closure

There are several Gestalt Principles that will help you with understanding how our brains process data visualizations. Some of the principles include: proximity, similarity, enclosure, connection, continuation, closure, symmetry, and figure/g round. Let’s look at the principles and see how we can apply these to data visualizations and communication across the gender gap.

Gestalt Principle of Proximity:

We can leverage the way people see table design simply by careful spacing. In the first arrangement, you eyes are drawn down the columns and across the rows in the second case. We see column groups and row groups (Chang, Nesbitt, & Wilkins, 2007)

Table 153: Gestalt Principle of Proximity

Gestalt Principle of Similarity:

Objects that are similar in color, shape, size, or orientation are perceived as related or belonging to the same group. Your eye in this illustration is drawn vertically because you see two groups – circles and squares. Color is the strongest way to suggest relationships (Christopher, 2012).

Table 154: Gestalt Principle of Similarity

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