Organizing Information Spatially
According to the author of this online article, Kevin Mullet, "By carefully adjusting the qualities of individual elements and the configuration as a whole, the designer can manipulate the order in which elements are perceived, the relative importance assigned to each, and the relationships between elements inferred by the viewer". (Jul-26-98)
The link address is: http://www.acm.org/interactions/vol2no3/columns/design/mullet.htm