062 Good Continuation

The tendency to perceive lines as continuing their established directions.

• One of the Gestalt principles of perception.

• Things arranged in a straight line or a smooth curve are perceived as a unit, making them easier to visually process and remember. The line is perceived to continue in its established direction.

• When sections of a line or shape are hidden from view, good continuation leads the eye to continue along the visible segments. If extensions of these segments intersect with minimal disruption, the elements along the line are perceived to be related. As the angle of disruption becomes more acute, the elements are perceived to be less related.

• Use good continuation to indicate relatedness between elements in a design. Arrange elements in graphs and displays such that end points of elements form continuous, rather than abrupt lines.

See Also Alignment • Area Alignment • Chunking • Closure Similarity • Uniform Connectedness

The first graph is easier to read than the second because the end points of its bars form a line that is more continuous.