Like in nature

Perhaps the most common design rule of thumb is that like goes with like. Books go on a bookshelf, pencils at the pharmacy are in the office supplies aisle, and a bottle of acetaminophen doesn’t come with a package of Peeps.

My grandmother is the only person I know to extend the saying to, “Like goes with like, like in nature.” She argues that people like to group things because the concept is a natural phenomena. Grass grows with grass, stars are in the sky, animals flock and herd, and humans gather in tribes. There are a number of reasons for grouping to occur in nature, but it boils down to survival.

Humans survived in groups to protect themselves against predators and other humans. People also had to detect patterns in order to be safe, like that thunder means a storm is coming. Our neocortex is excellent at detecting all types of patterns from years of people relying on them.

Not everything can conform, be uniform or fit a perfect category. There needs to be a natural balance because too much conformity bores people. Only having cereal is good, but it’s fun to find a toy in the cereal box. From a Human Centered Design standpoint, people will generally gravitate towards products with attributes that remind them of naturally occurring traits. Timeless designs follow Human Factors the closest, not just because we need them, but because we desire to be close to things like ourselves.