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Description
How you layout objects in your Power Apps surface is a mixture of art, industry standard, and Gestalt. In this 14-minute Citizen Developer-focused demo, Rory Neary bridges psychology and UI/UX design. Consider that In Power Apps, objects laid out are in a 2D frame. In this demo, you will understand how and why using Gestalt principles in app design matters in a world where users do not typically read manuals and app adoption is largely based on visual perceptions. This PnP Community demo is taken from the Microsoft Power Apps community call - April 2021, recorded on April 21, 2021.
Demo Presenter: Rory Neary @AzureRory
Supporting documents:
• Training modules - Gestalt principles | https://www.powerplatformlearn.academy/courses/power-apps/contents/6061fe2159dfb
Stay connected:
• Twitter https://twitter.com/microsoft365dev
• YouTube https://aka.ms/m365pnp/videos
• Blogs https://aka.ms/m365pnp/community/blog
A
Today,
I'm
going
to
talk
to
you
about
gestalt
design
principles.
Now
I've
written
this,
what
has
turned
out
to
be
a
very
big
course
on
powerapps
and
I
was
going
down
the
route
of
all
the
functions
and
all
the
objects
and
and
all
sorts
of
different
things
when
it's
mod
driven
apps,
all
these
sorts
of
things,
but
I
I've
actually
brought
out
a
module
and
to
do
with
design
principles
that
it's
not
just
gestalt.
It's
it's
lots
of
others,
but
this
gestalt
design
principles
is
really
really
cool.
A
A
I
think
it
was
psychologists
and
it's
all
about
how
we
see
the
world,
how
we
perceive
objects,
the
importance
of
objects
relative
to
other
objects
and
and
and
it
it
you
will.
I
hope
see
that
it's
actually
relevant
to
how
you
build
your
apps
and
how
the
people
that
are
using
your
apps
will
understand
them
because,
let's
be
honest,
we
live
in
a
world
where
these
apps
don't
come
with
instruction
manuals.
So
this
is
one
of
the
ways
in
which
you
can
help
your
users
to
understand.
A
Understand
things
better
like
what
we've
got
on
the
screen
here,
it's
a
hexagon.
They
call
it
the
honeycomb.
It
came
out
about
2004
it's
about
the
vap
value
proposition,
but
the
idea
is
that
all
these
things
help
all
of
the
elements
that
you
can
see
are
helping
towards
this
value
proposition
and
the
reason
why
we
know
that,
even
by
looking
at
it
is
because
of
the
proximity
of
those
things,
so
we
I'm
going
to
introduce
some
gestalt
principles
as
we
go
along.
A
A
But
actually
it's
not
even
rings
remember
what
we're
actually
seeing
here
is:
there's
not
one
single
ring,
not
one
complete
ring
here
at
all
and
what
the
mind
has
done
for
us
is
actually
it's
actually
bridged
those
gaps
with
the
rings
that
you
can
see
that
they
are
all
related
to
each
other,
because
they've
got
proximity,
and
so
what
we'll
see
later
on
as
we
we
investigate
these
gestalt
principles
in
detail.
Is
that
we'll
see
that
they're
they
can
be
relevant
to
our
apps?
A
I
hope
I'm
keeping
everyone
on
on
track
here.
But,
let's
be
honest,
you
know
powerapps,
they
are
just
objects
on
it
on
a
2d.
You
know
on
a
2d
frame
when
we
make
them
so,
as
I
say,
get
started
psychology
early
1900s,
so
so
now
we're
actually
going
to
go
on
to
what
are
the
gestalt
principles.
Well,
the
very
first
one
is
one
that
is
around
proximity.
A
A
A
These
are
actually
related
to
each
other,
because-
and
we
think
that,
because
because
of
the
border
that
was
put
on
there,
so
it's
really
important
to
think
about
that.
That
is
an
opportunity
for
you
to
make.
Things
seem
like
they
are
associated
with
each
with
each
other.
If
they
in
fact
are
so
that's
common
region,
we
have
another
principle
which
is
around
closure,
which
I
think
is
absolutely
fascinating.
A
So
many
people
in
the
audience
we'll
see
we'll
they
will
see
the
panda
to
do
with
the
world.
Wildlife
fund
and
they'll
also
see
a
triangle
that
is
sitting
in
the
middle
of
here.
But
in
fact,
as
you
can
see,
there
is
no
triangle,
it's
just
it's
just
something
that
is
a
construct
from
from
the
objects
that
we
can
see
and
it
is
a
bit
of
choose.
A
But
at
the
same
time,
when
we
think
about
icons,
that
is
exactly
what's
happening
with
icons
all
the
time
you
can,
you
can
see
that
they
that
they,
you
know
the
the
mind
is
trying
to
to
to
you,
know,
fill
in
the
gaps
and
so
on,
and
that's
why
icons
work
well
and
one
thing:
that's
cool
about
icons
and
images.
Is
images
get
processed
60
000
times
more
quickly
than
text?
Does
so
that's
a
nice
one
for
you
there.
A
Similarity
is
another
thing.
That's
that's
important,
so
we
also
because
these
objects
are
either
similar
because
of
the
color
or
because
of
the
shape.
We
then
start
to
associate
with
them
them
with
each
other.
So
we
might
think
about
this
group
here
as
being
similar,
and
we
also
will
think
about
this
group
as
being
similar
and
we'll
think
about
this
group
as
being
similar
or
as
well,
but
remember
that
the
proximity
principle
will
also
make
us
think
that
these
are
similar
and
it's
okay.
If
that's,
if
they
really
are.
A
A
But
essentially,
if
you
place
an
object
in
front
of
another
object,
people
perceive
that
one
as
being
in
front
of
it
and
somehow
more
important
and
there's
also
this
element
of
continuity,
which
is
this
idea
that
the
mind
will
actually
just
continue
the
lines
that
it
sees
and
we've
kind
of
seen
a
little
bit
of
that
already
and
there's
also
an
element
of
past
experience.
So
if
you
see
a
back
icon
and
icons
are
brilliant
examples
of
past
experience
because
people
use
them
or
should
use
them
in
the
same
way.
A
So
here's
the
thing
if
it
comes
to
icons,
use
icons
for
the
purpose
which
they
were
intended.
Don't
invent
your
own
new
way
of
doing
them,
because
your
audience
probably
won't
understand
them.
So
now
what
I'd
like
to
do
is
I'd
like
to
move
on
to
a
little
demo
if
I
can,
but
I'm
actually
yeah.
Let
me
try
this
and
so.
Okay,
we'll
look
at
a
model
driven
app.
You
can
see
the
design
principles
that
are
in
operation
here.
A
You
can
see
you
can
see
the
kind
of
proximity
you
can
see
that
you
can
see.
These
ideas
are
taking
place
already
in
here,
and
you
can
even
see
that
these
these
fields
are
are
kind
of
in
a
bit
of
a
box
together.
So
you
can
see
that
there's
some
kind
of
relationship.
You
can
even
see
that
there's
actually
boxes
around
here
they've
actually
done
the
borders
side
of
things.
So
that's
kind
of
cool
I'll,
just
move
on
another
one.
A
This
is
where
I
don't
actually
know
how
to
move:
okay,
f11,
we'll
move
on
to
this,
so
and
and
so
here's
the
microsoft
site.
What
we
can
see
on
here
is
that
you
can
see
that
there's,
okay,
you've
got
the
logo.
You've
got
this
grouping
here.
You've
got
another
grouping
here
as
well,
and
you
can
see
this
grouping
going
on
here,
but
they've
actually
done
quite
a
clever
exercise
here.
A
You've
got
all
of
the
you've
got
all
of
the
these
icons
that
have
been
used
together
and-
and
you
can
see
that
there's
these
gestalt
principles
are
in
operation
here
and
for
those
of
you
that
have
been
been
sort
of
astute
as
far
as
this
is
concerned,
and
you'll
actually
see
that
this
is
in
fact
not
the
microsoft
site.
In
fact,
this
is
just
an
app
and
it
just
it's
done
to
demonstrate
that
these
principles
can
be
brought
into
an
app.
So
you've
got
these
ideas
of
grouping
and
I've
used.
A
So
I
guess
this
kind
of
takes
me
to
the
end
of
the
presentation.
I
think
what
I'd
like
to
do,
if
I
can,
is
just
go
back
through
and
just
remind
ourselves
of
what
we've
actually
seen
so
we've
gone.
This
is
about
how
humans
see
the
world.
It's
all
about
the
relative
importance
of
objects.
I
told
the
lie
done
correctly:
it's
kind
of
invisible
and
it's
it's
how
we
we
see
the
world
lots
of
objects.
It
means
it
gets
harder.
A
So
if
you
want
to
learn
more
about
this,
then
you
can
go
to
powerplatformlearn.com
and
you
can
go
through
to
the
course
and
you
can
you
know
you
can
do
get
on
with
the
your
learning
there.
It's
actually
a
free
course.
There
are
a
ridiculous
amount
of
lessons
there.
I
don't
quite
know
why
I
did
it,
but
but
it's
there
anyway,
for
you
to
consume
so
that
takes
me
to
the
end
of
gestalt
principles.
B
I
like
it
a
lot,
I
love
how
you
built
the
site
and
then
tricked
us,
and
it
was
really
a
power
app.
So
you
drove
that
point
home.
I
think
a
lot
of
people
in
chat
noticed
that
too
very
nice.
So
your
your
course
on
on
the
powerapps
will
not
only
dive
deep
into
this
topic,
but
several
others
with
power
apps
right
practically
everything.
A
A
We
have
group
sessions
where,
where
I
kind
of
pick
up
a
top
topic
of
of
one
kind
or
another,
but
really
it's
there
for
you
to
learn,
because
I,
like
I'm
an
accountant
by
trade
so
five
years
ago
I
stopped
being
an
accountant
and
didn't
know
what
I
was
gonna
do
I
got
lucky
and
I
started
doing
power
bi
and
so
on
got
into
the
power
platform.
I
even
met
charles
along
the
way
when
I
was
setting
up
a
little
group.
A
He
was
brilliant
and
and
sorry
I
gotta
slow
down
yeah,
so
yeah
and
yeah,
and
so
none
of
this
cut
is
familiar
to
me.
You
know
this
this
stuff,
I'm
just
and
I
didn't
want
people
to
go
through
the
same
learning
experiences
I
went
through.
I
want
them
to
just
learn
things
once
if
they
can
and
not
be
going
through
youtube
and
just
watching
endless
videos
and
watching
and
getting
drawn
into
different
areas
they
didn't
intend
to
get
into.
So
that's
the
idea.
That's
awesome,
you're,
a
heck
of
a
guy.