Briefle words · UI design
Proximity
Also called Gestalt
The principle that things placed close together are seen as related, while bigger gaps signal a separate group.
Say it to an AI
Signup card with name, email and password. Let proximity do the grouping: each label sits tight to its input, with a clearly bigger gap between field groups. Pull everything from a 4px spacing scale, roughly 4–6px label-to-input and 16px between groups.
How an expert would brief the stronger version of “Signup form”.
See it
Try it as a puzzle →Account signup card for a note-taking app.
Why: In B 'Email' is 5px above its input and 14px below the previous one, so it clearly belongs to the field under it. In A it's 9px from both.
More ways experts use it
Template picker as a 3-column grid with a single consistent gutter, 14px, used for both column and row gaps. Every thumbnail the same size and aspect, labels directly under each, so proximity doesn't imply pairs that aren't there.
Template gallery · UI design
Related words
Room 5 · Spacing & layout
Learn “Proximity” in a five-minute lesson