2 ms·
Honestly, I was actually excited by flat design when I first saw it, but that was on Windows Phone 7. And WP7 had an exceptionally rigid and consistent approac
by Pxtl 6y ago
Honestly, I was actually excited by flat design when I first saw it, but that was on Windows Phone 7. And WP7 had an exceptionally rigid and consistent approach to flat design. If something was colored, it was a button. If you wanted to color something that wasn't a button? Too bad for you. Basically, on WP7 you didn't get to "design" at all - the UI framework basically said "this is what your widgets look like, if you don't like it you can make software for a different operating system.
Ironically, I think "bringing back the fun" is what destroyed flat design, because people who wanted to make their designs "fun" destroyed the design-language.
Overall, I don't care if you go flat or otherwise - I want the WP7 attitude in my software. The platform provides a rigid design-language, and the individual applications do not deviate from it. Unfortunately, web is fundamentally a platform designed for styled documents and not GUIs so we don't have that kind of standardization available, and the web is the center of modern design.
- lou1306 6y agoWindows Phone had amazing human interface guidelines for hand-held touch devices. I still believe that Live Tiles are unmatched as a home screen pattern. > The platform provides a rigid design-language, and the individual applications do not deviate from it The problem here is twofold: 1. Apps actually deviate a lot from the guidelines for their platform. A lot of posts from grumpy.website et al. concern apps (even first-party ones!), not just websites. For instance, title bars that are undraggable/hidden/used as toolbars are a worrying trend. 2. The design language itself may be flawed, so following it blindly would result in a worse UX. (See: Material design and its weird, obnoxious floating button)
- neididipp 6y agoCan’t wait for the flat design trend to return in 4-5 years after this light nudge towards flat + a little depth, leads us right back to yellow legal pads with faux leather binding, but all the elements look flatter. There’s precious little “new frontier” to chase for 2D screens design. Small touches like expanded drag, swipe, etc would be nice. Designing towards doing not fostering emotional attachment to design. The epistemology has come unhinged from its ontology for wankery of theory sake and here we are looking to escape it. It’s no longer serving the true purpose of the gadget, to do utilitarian work. We’re bored with flat and they need to keep us attached emotionally, so here’s our new season of designs! I’d prefer we return to utilitarian UI of Win2k, OS9, so I can get a job done and not want to be “in love” with a screen
- jiofih 6y agoIf you look deeper it’s the exact opposite. “Non-flat” design is utilitarian. Win2k, NextStep, Amiga, OS9, all used skeuomorphism and visual affordable in a very straight-forward fashion.