Orientation Sensitivity

Orientation Sensitivity relies on two different effects; the oblique and the pop-out.

First is the oblique effect. This effect deals with being able to see and recognize horizontal and vertical lines. Studies have shown that people will remember lines that are horizontal or vertical easier than those that are on an angle. They will also tend to remember lines that are close to horizontal and vertical will be remembered as a true horizontal and vertical line. Looking at aesthetics, designs that have a lot of horizontal or vertical lines tend to be more aesthetically pleasing.

example:

Second is the pop-out effect. This effect is when elements seem to pop-out off the rest of the display. Lines that differ more than 30 degrees or more are easier to detect. This effect is caused when there is a change in visual stimuli that helps a person to see the difference in the orientations of line and patterns. This effect can be made stronger by using it in conjunction with each other.

example:

Lines with at least a 30 degree increments make them easier to read.