Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated

Common Fate

Elements that move in the same direction are perceived to be more related than elements that move in different directions or are stationary.

The principle of common fate is one of a number of principles referred to as Gestalt principles of perception. It asserts that elements that move together in a common direction are perceived as a single group or chunk, and are interpreted as being more related than elements that move at different times or in different directions. For example, a row of randomly arranged Xs and Os that is stationary is naturally grouped by similarity, Xs with Xs, and Os with Os. However, if certain elements in the row move in one direction, and other elements move in the opposite direction, elements are grouped ...