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I agree that most UI is the same these days and some change from the norm should be encouraged, but I don't think that UI with actual real world things like bin

I agree that most UI is the same these days and some change from the norm should be encouraged, but I don't think that UI with actual real world things like binder clips is needed. Mobile apps don't need clips to keep pages together, so lets not bring new constraints into a field that already has it's own to work with. I love how Google is updating material design to have more aggressive shadows and bring in elements that make the UI feel more like the real world, while also pushing the boundaries of app design with newer interaction models that most haven't seen, but immediately feel used to. Mobile app design is such a new field, let's not jump back into our time machine because we feel nostalgic for Steve Job's Apple. Let's keep pushing the field forward.

sago 9y ago
My car doesn't need leather seats, carbon fibre, or chrome bumpers. My watch doesn't need numbers as well as hour markers. My seafood dinner doesn't need the milk crisp arranging like a sail. My jeans don't need rivets. My pen pot doesn't need to be wrapped in leather. I don't need wood panelling on the walls. I could live in a sterile utilitarian whiteness, where the only things that exist have a purpose. Some people do. I prefer plants, and colours, and textures, and art on the wall. I like knobs on my virtual synthesiser. I like pages in my e-book. If I had an app where I could clip together a series of documents, I'd rather it displayed this with a binder clip than a message or an abstract icon. Extreme minimalism is, and has always been, soulless imho. Even the Farnsworth House used woodgrain and leather, curtains act as fabric wallhangings, textured concrete is prominently featured. Falling Water is practically a skeuomorphic paradise.
- AstralStorm 9y ago
  And I really don't like knobs on my synthesizer, they're a total pain to set right. (But I do like the lamps and VU meters, nice labels and a bit of distinct look.) Nor the pages as I have to tap in addition to scrolling. There is a reason to have scroll bars, but not a good reason to have pages especially when they don't fit the screen size. There is minimalism and then there is skeuomorphism. And the entirely different thing is functionality. Looks are only tangentially related...
wildrhythms 9y ago
When every app looks and acts the same, why have different apps at all? What I want is one single mega app that does everything. At least then I can rest peacefully knowing that the interfaces between all of my digital playspaces are consistent. Think of how wonderful it will be when I can open my phone and not be surprised by what a designer has carefully crafted. This excites you too, doesn't it?
- stephencoyner 9y ago
  I'm not saying everything should be the same, my first sentence said quite the opposite. I'm just saying let's not bring the constraints of the physical world into mobile app design, let's get a little more creative.
  - wildrhythms 9y ago
    I'm of the opinion that "Material design" is exactly what my comment portrays... a world where all interfaces look and act alike, where everything must adhere to "best practices" at the expense of a unique experience and fresh ideas. My thought is that, if the goal is more creativity, then we have to move away from trying to homogenize user experiences by funneling them into the same identical visual theme (read: "Material design") I didn't mean my previous comment to rip on what you were saying; this just comes from someone who is working on a project that has been shorehorned into Material design and I sincerely think the user interface has worsened as a result.
- megaman22 9y ago
  Emacs, I guess /s

sago 9y ago

My car doesn't need leather seats, carbon fibre, or chrome bumpers. My watch doesn't need numbers as well as hour markers. My seafood dinner doesn't need the milk crisp arranging like a sail. My jeans don't need rivets. My pen pot doesn't need to be wrapped in leather. I don't need wood panelling on the walls. I could live in a sterile utilitarian whiteness, where the only things that exist have a purpose. Some people do. I prefer plants, and colours, and textures, and art on the wall. I like knobs on my virtual synthesiser. I like pages in my e-book. If I had an app where I could clip together a series of documents, I'd rather it displayed this with a binder clip than a message or an abstract icon. Extreme minimalism is, and has always been, soulless imho. Even the Farnsworth House used woodgrain and leather, curtains act as fabric wallhangings, textured concrete is prominently featured. Falling Water is practically a skeuomorphic paradise.

AstralStorm 9y ago
And I really don't like knobs on my synthesizer, they're a total pain to set right. (But I do like the lamps and VU meters, nice labels and a bit of distinct look.) Nor the pages as I have to tap in addition to scrolling. There is a reason to have scroll bars, but not a good reason to have pages especially when they don't fit the screen size. There is minimalism and then there is skeuomorphism. And the entirely different thing is functionality. Looks are only tangentially related...

wildrhythms 9y ago

When every app looks and acts the same, why have different apps at all? What I want is one single mega app that does everything. At least then I can rest peacefully knowing that the interfaces between all of my digital playspaces are consistent. Think of how wonderful it will be when I can open my phone and not be surprised by what a designer has carefully crafted. This excites you too, doesn't it?

stephencoyner 9y ago
I'm not saying everything should be the same, my first sentence said quite the opposite. I'm just saying let's not bring the constraints of the physical world into mobile app design, let's get a little more creative.
- wildrhythms 9y ago
  I'm of the opinion that "Material design" is exactly what my comment portrays... a world where all interfaces look and act alike, where everything must adhere to "best practices" at the expense of a unique experience and fresh ideas. My thought is that, if the goal is more creativity, then we have to move away from trying to homogenize user experiences by funneling them into the same identical visual theme (read: "Material design") I didn't mean my previous comment to rip on what you were saying; this just comes from someone who is working on a project that has been shorehorned into Material design and I sincerely think the user interface has worsened as a result.
megaman22 9y ago
Emacs, I guess /s