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Apple did skeuomorphism really well, which is hard and requires a lot of design work. I cannot understand why they gradually abandoned that, as it was clearly

by nextos 1y ago

Apple did skeuomorphism really well, which is hard and requires a lot of design work. I cannot understand why they gradually abandoned that, as it was clearly a competitive moat in terms of usability. I've seen how computer illiterate or elderly people were able to navigate skeuomorphic designs with relative ease. Right now, they can't tell what is a button or a field and what isn't.

kstrauser 1y ago
It was primarily because skeuomorphic UIs don't scale well with user experience levels. They're easier for novices but don't lend themselves well to expert use, unless you add a bunch of extra affordances that would seem really out of place in a UI meant to look like a real thing. And what does a skeuomorphic web browser or email app look ike? We don't have those in meatspace.
- jazzyjackson 1y ago
  inbox/outbox is a holdover from bins setting on your desk. but yeah there's not much more to the interface of a blank sheet of paper. I disagree that skeuomorphic can't be used by power users. Just throw a bunch of keyboard shortcuts in there.
pazimzadeh 1y ago
It was less of flat vs. skeuomorphic than dead vs. alive elements (https://vimeo.com/64895205 https://vimeo.com/64895205). While the technology to create 'alive' skeuomorphic elements now exists, that wasn't the case a few years ago. Older skeuomorphic designs were static/rasters which were clunky to either mix these static elements with animated elements (for example the iOS 7 menu title transitions) or to have transparency (how can you have transparent leather/velvet?). Liquid Glass is actually an extension of the foundation laid by iOS 7. Many parts of the iOS 7 transition guide might as well have been written for Liquid Glass: - "Make sure that app content is discernible through translucent UI elements—such as bars and keyboards—and the transparent status bar" - "Examine your app for hard-coded UI values—such as sizes and positions—and replace them with those you derive dynamically from system-provided values." https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/TransitionGuide/Scoping.html https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Us...
J_McQuade 1y ago
Not gonna lie, I've been using (and programming) GUIs since the Amiga and even I get thrown askew by "click here to enter your name" (expecting a subsequent GUI element to focus, or worse - a popup) vs. "click here to enter your name" (haha! the prompt text disappears now and this is just where you write it I guess!). You'd think this is just a little thing, but it can really mess with you if you need to change focus and - of course - every application will 'haha!' you in a different way. It has nothing to do with skeuomorphism really, but at least skeuomorphism seemed to give everyone an idea of what they were shooting for at least.

by nextos 1y ago

kstrauser 1y ago

It was primarily because skeuomorphic UIs don't scale well with user experience levels. They're easier for novices but don't lend themselves well to expert use, unless you add a bunch of extra affordances that would seem really out of place in a UI meant to look like a real thing. And what does a skeuomorphic web browser or email app look ike? We don't have those in meatspace.

jazzyjackson 1y ago
inbox/outbox is a holdover from bins setting on your desk. but yeah there's not much more to the interface of a blank sheet of paper. I disagree that skeuomorphic can't be used by power users. Just throw a bunch of keyboard shortcuts in there.

pazimzadeh 1y ago

It was less of flat vs. skeuomorphic than dead vs. alive elements (https://vimeo.com/64895205 https://vimeo.com/64895205). While the technology to create 'alive' skeuomorphic elements now exists, that wasn't the case a few years ago. Older skeuomorphic designs were static/rasters which were clunky to either mix these static elements with animated elements (for example the iOS 7 menu title transitions) or to have transparency (how can you have transparent leather/velvet?). Liquid Glass is actually an extension of the foundation laid by iOS 7. Many parts of the iOS 7 transition guide might as well have been written for Liquid Glass: - "Make sure that app content is discernible through translucent UI elements—such as bars and keyboards—and the transparent status bar" - "Examine your app for hard-coded UI values—such as sizes and positions—and replace them with those you derive dynamically from system-provided values." https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/TransitionGuide/Scoping.html https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Us...

J_McQuade 1y ago

Not gonna lie, I've been using (and programming) GUIs since the Amiga and even I get thrown askew by "click here to enter your name" (expecting a subsequent GUI element to focus, or worse - a popup) vs. "click here to enter your name" (haha! the prompt text disappears now and this is just where you write it I guess!). You'd think this is just a little thing, but it can really mess with you if you need to change focus and - of course - every application will 'haha!' you in a different way. It has nothing to do with skeuomorphism really, but at least skeuomorphism seemed to give everyone an idea of what they were shooting for at least.