Skinning it or Finding Flatland.
Why Flat or Not is Not the Problem
Ok, I get it. Most people saw the Apple WWDC app comparison and said: “OMG! Apple is changing it’s UI… Finally no skeuomorphism!”.
Aesthetics vs. Behaviours
The whole discussion about flat design seems to be so off topic. It makes me feel I missed some earlier arguments. The focus in this discussion on surface aesthetics is just wrong. As if Windows 8 main differantiator is just it’s flatness. It introduces new mechanics and behaviors not ‘just’ colorful tiles.
Remember what Steve said:
“People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” —Steve Jobs in the New York Times, 2003
Got it? I’m not liking skeuomorphism either, but it’s just flat-out wrong to focus on the surface of the UI. This comparison between the WWDC apps just shows that it hadn’t changed much over the years and in my opinion it got even more boring.
The Real Flat
The better examples for what iOS needs is to think about more and better behaviors and affordances. And skeuomorphism is just used to make affordances more pronounced and probably helped my mom to understand how something works. But if my kids don’t understand what a floppy drive is a more natural interaction immediately stuck with them.
Some amazing examples that always existed in iOS were the pinch to zoom, slide to unlock and the swiping of photos. Some of the other ones are the refresh pull-down by Loren Brichter, and how Clear deals with todos and also interesting how Rise uses the surface without any additional UI elements. No buttons needed.
Holy Jony?
“Jony Ive will provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company in addition to his role as the leader of Industrial Design. His incredible design aesthetic has been the driving force behind the look and feel of Apple’s products for more than a decade.” —Apple Press Release
Now that Jony Ive is in control of the interface as well many people have their hopes up. A little too high in my opinion. I’m not sure what Jony can do besides aesthetics. For what I know many of the best UI people have a background in video/motion graphics for it’s time based elements and visual design for communicating the affordances. Plus they usually can build a prototype of what they mocked up.
Maybe he will be better in deciding what looks and feels good in comparison to Scott Forstall, but Apple isn’t done if everything is flattened. Remember even a flat button is a button.
(Happily he taps back to the news stand and picks up one of the fake newspapers.)
