A Study on Perceptual Design of Hierarchical Graphic Information in Interfaces Based on Gestalt Principles

The representation of visual hierarchy remains a central concern in contemporary design research and practice. Current design guidelines advocate establishing hierarchical relationships through dimensions such as size or distance, yet concrete and effective integration strategies remain elusive. This study, grounded in Gestalt principles, investigates the impact of design layouts on hierarchical perception under the interaction of proximity and similarity. This experiment systematically controls the size (1:1, 1:3/4 and 1:1/2, respectively) and distance (namely 1/4 R, 1/2 R, 3/4 R, 1 R, 5/4 R and 3/2 R) of two circular objects, employing a 3 × 6 two-way ANOVA. The results indicate that the interaction between size and distance can exert a significant influence on the perception of hierarchy. Among these factors, structural type emerges as the dominant element shaping hierarchical perception, with overlapping structures showing pronounced hierarchical suggestive characteristics that significantly outperform tangential and separated structures. Size can partially regulate this effect. When dimensions are equal, tangential and separated structures show no significant difference in perceived hierarchy. However, with the aid of size disparity, the hierarchical sense of separated structures can be markedly enhanced, yielding an effect stronger than that produced by shared edges.