The Use of Iambic Pentameter in the

in user interface display layouts.
It would be interesting to determine whether grouping operates differentially
across time in user interface displays because display layouts are often ambiguous with
respect to organization. For example, in the website shown in Figure 18, there are a
variety of grouping principles that can affect the users’ perception of the grouping of the
navigational pushbuttons. If organizing by similarity and common region, the user may
perceive the pushbuttons to form one large group, as the pushbuttons are all depicted in a
similar pattern and are all located on one common dark region. If organizing by
alignment, the user may perceive the pushbuttons to form two groups, one group in a top
row and a second group in a bottom row, as the pushbuttons appear to be aligned in two
rows. If organizing by proximity, the user may group the bottom central pushbutton and
the ‘Email Webmaster’ link. Hence, the pushbuttons in Figure 18 are ambiguous with
respect to grouping. While this website serves as one example, there are countless other
examples of ambiguous display groupings in both software applications and websites.
Figure 18. Ambiguous website
Note. Pushbuttons can be organized by several types of Gestalt principles of grouping.
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