5 ms·

It didn't "look like it was", though, that's the problem. Buttons that are flat look exactly the same as any bordered element, e.g. text inputs. Or, at the very

It didn't "look like it was", though, that's the problem. Buttons that are flat look exactly the same as any bordered element, e.g. text inputs. Or, at the very least, they look a lot more like them than they otherwise would. Flat design was just a trend, partly as an overreaction to skeuomorphism. It was a case of 'looks' design overtaking 'usable' design, for no very clear reason; at least, no reason I can see. Buttons were 'best' when they were 3d and button-shaped. That still leaves a huge amount of customisation for designers to work with, but those two very simple factors should be maintained when producing buttons, IMO. There was a very common understanding that buttons looked that way.

lmm 9y ago
Skeuomorphism ceases to be useful once people don't remember the physical thing you're trying to use. 3D buttons aren't actually that helpful to my generation: a lot of the buttons I've used in real life (e.g. those on my microwave) aren't 3D. On a computer the most common button-like thing is a web link and those don't (generally) use the 3D-effect. 3D is one way to hint that a particular element is clickable/tappable, but not the only one. Of course if you want a really scream-in-your-face button it should probably be 3D and a contrasting colour and larger and underlined and ... - but my feeling is that good UI doesn't mean making the call-to-action as attention-grabbing as possible, it's better to have a sense of proportion. (thinking about it more, the most important thing - and the thing that's backed up by solid science - is to use text rather than icons for button labels. I really hope that stays, even if we go back to 3D and rounding)
- oneeyedpigeon 9y ago
  We haven't abandoned all of the old icons yet, though: a disk for save, an envelope for email, etc. And I think you're underestimating how much physical 'buttons' are still a part of everyday life: you might well be typing on what is essentially a huge array of buttons, after all.
  - lmm 9y ago
    I might; equally I might be "typing" by "swiping" an array of letters positioned on a flat touchscreen, with nothing 3D and no "pressing" in sight.
- coldtea 9y ago
  >Skeuomorphism ceases to be useful once people don't remember the physical thing you're trying to use. 3D buttons aren't actually that helpful to my generation: a lot of the buttons I've used in real life (e.g. those on my microwave) aren't 3D. That's probably a bad design on the part of the microwave maker. We still use tons of 3d buttons everywhere, and everybody is familiar with them. >On a computer the most common button-like thing is a web link and those don't (generally) use the 3D-effect. Links are links, not buttons.
  - delecti 9y ago
    > Links are links, not buttons. I suspect that most people would have trouble coming up with a definition for a UI button that couldn't just as easily describe web links.
    - coldtea 9y ago
      Links take you to a different view (page, whatever), without affecting any other state. Buttons perform actions (that might also present a new panel). The problem is bad UIs muddling the waters between the two (having a plain text "label" looking like a link that does "Delete everything in my account" for example).
      - oneeyedpigeon 9y ago
        This fits with the convention that, generally speaking, links generate a GET request and buttons generate a POST one — javascript & the odd GET-form-for-searching aside. Of course, webapps have seriously muddied the water!
- chriswarbo 9y ago
  > 3D buttons aren't actually that helpful to my generation: a lot of the buttons I've used in real life (e.g. those on my microwave) aren't 3D. On a computer the most common button-like thing is a web link and those don't (generally) use the 3D-effect. Those are good examples, and got me thinking about the first hypertext system I used when growing up: AmigaGuide. That did use "3D buttons" for links: http://reality.cm/aguide.htm http://reality.cm/aguide.htm
- tarsinge 9y ago
  > Skeuomorphism ceases to be useful once people don't remember the physical thing you're trying to use The idea is interesting but it's disconnected from reality. Change in the physical world is very slow, bet young people will still know what a watch or any everyday life item is in ten years (way more than the average software life). I understand that some people would find an UI for a music player with some photorealistic speaker or a fully wooden bookshelf library ugly but don't tell me people (old and young) don't know what it is. Or more far fetched I could still understand medieval fort icon on a firewall. I admit some are already forgotten like the floppy disk but they are an exception.

lmm 9y ago

Skeuomorphism ceases to be useful once people don't remember the physical thing you're trying to use. 3D buttons aren't actually that helpful to my generation: a lot of the buttons I've used in real life (e.g. those on my microwave) aren't 3D. On a computer the most common button-like thing is a web link and those don't (generally) use the 3D-effect. 3D is one way to hint that a particular element is clickable/tappable, but not the only one. Of course if you want a really scream-in-your-face button it should probably be 3D and a contrasting colour and larger and underlined and ... - but my feeling is that good UI doesn't mean making the call-to-action as attention-grabbing as possible, it's better to have a sense of proportion. (thinking about it more, the most important thing - and the thing that's backed up by solid science - is to use text rather than icons for button labels. I really hope that stays, even if we go back to 3D and rounding)

oneeyedpigeon 9y ago
We haven't abandoned all of the old icons yet, though: a disk for save, an envelope for email, etc. And I think you're underestimating how much physical 'buttons' are still a part of everyday life: you might well be typing on what is essentially a huge array of buttons, after all.
- lmm 9y ago
  I might; equally I might be "typing" by "swiping" an array of letters positioned on a flat touchscreen, with nothing 3D and no "pressing" in sight.
coldtea 9y ago
>Skeuomorphism ceases to be useful once people don't remember the physical thing you're trying to use. 3D buttons aren't actually that helpful to my generation: a lot of the buttons I've used in real life (e.g. those on my microwave) aren't 3D. That's probably a bad design on the part of the microwave maker. We still use tons of 3d buttons everywhere, and everybody is familiar with them. >On a computer the most common button-like thing is a web link and those don't (generally) use the 3D-effect. Links are links, not buttons.
- delecti 9y ago
  > Links are links, not buttons. I suspect that most people would have trouble coming up with a definition for a UI button that couldn't just as easily describe web links.
  - coldtea 9y ago
    Links take you to a different view (page, whatever), without affecting any other state. Buttons perform actions (that might also present a new panel). The problem is bad UIs muddling the waters between the two (having a plain text "label" looking like a link that does "Delete everything in my account" for example).
    - oneeyedpigeon 9y ago
      This fits with the convention that, generally speaking, links generate a GET request and buttons generate a POST one — javascript & the odd GET-form-for-searching aside. Of course, webapps have seriously muddied the water!
chriswarbo 9y ago
> 3D buttons aren't actually that helpful to my generation: a lot of the buttons I've used in real life (e.g. those on my microwave) aren't 3D. On a computer the most common button-like thing is a web link and those don't (generally) use the 3D-effect. Those are good examples, and got me thinking about the first hypertext system I used when growing up: AmigaGuide. That did use "3D buttons" for links: http://reality.cm/aguide.htm http://reality.cm/aguide.htm
tarsinge 9y ago
> Skeuomorphism ceases to be useful once people don't remember the physical thing you're trying to use The idea is interesting but it's disconnected from reality. Change in the physical world is very slow, bet young people will still know what a watch or any everyday life item is in ten years (way more than the average software life). I understand that some people would find an UI for a music player with some photorealistic speaker or a fully wooden bookshelf library ugly but don't tell me people (old and young) don't know what it is. Or more far fetched I could still understand medieval fort icon on a firewall. I admit some are already forgotten like the floppy disk but they are an exception.