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I don't think minimalism is going to be a trend. There are plenty of reasons why bevels, overuse of gradients, drop shadows and on and on turns users off. Thoug

by Kequc 12y ago

I don't think minimalism is going to be a trend. There are plenty of reasons why bevels, overuse of gradients, drop shadows and on and on turns users off. Though you might be used to something different flat design is easy on the eyes. Flat design is relatively consistent. There was never any consensus for example on how much drop shadow a button should have. Removing the shadow entirely eliminates one more point of inconsistency between experiences. Older people are a great example of why consistency matters. Whenever I show my ageing mother a new website and it isn't incredibly clean + simple to look at it. Her brain shuts right off, she stares at it and waits for me to do something with it. The first time she saw Android on her new Nexus she immediately was able to start tinkering with it. Flat design, limited colour and gradients, fewer distractions. I don't understand the complaint about the colours being used on flat designs. Do you have your screen brightness turned all the way up? Turn it down you might notice how bland and grey a lot of older websites look - bevels don't save them.

afandian 12y ago
I was talking specifically about the choice of colours. Not necessarily even criticising the flat UI trend.
- Kequc 12y ago
  Well then it's just a matter of taste, I like the nintendo-esque bright colours. If there is a bright green button, a bright blue button and a bright red button I feel what those buttons do before I even read them.
jmulho 12y ago
The colors at flatuicolors.com are anything but easy on they eyes. Furthermore, in the flat designs I have seen you find out that a rectangle isn't a button when you click on it and nothing happens.
- dntrkv 12y ago
  Well if you can't tell if something is a button or not, that is a poor design. If you design consistently, and treat all elements of the same type the same way, there would be no second guessing. It's not even hard to do, just requires a bit of planning.
  - danellis 12y ago
    So what is the accordance for a button in a flat design?
    - dntrkv 12y ago
      It's up to the designer. But as long as it's used consistently through the design and it's different enough from other elements, your users won't have any issues. Either one of these would work: http://jsfiddle.net/5u2j549q/ http://jsfiddle.net/5u2j549q/
      - danellis 12y ago
        Where's the affordance in those? They don't look any different to badges.

by Kequc 12y ago

afandian 12y ago

I was talking specifically about the choice of colours. Not necessarily even criticising the flat UI trend.

Kequc 12y ago
Well then it's just a matter of taste, I like the nintendo-esque bright colours. If there is a bright green button, a bright blue button and a bright red button I feel what those buttons do before I even read them.

jmulho 12y ago

The colors at flatuicolors.com are anything but easy on they eyes. Furthermore, in the flat designs I have seen you find out that a rectangle isn't a button when you click on it and nothing happens.

dntrkv 12y ago
Well if you can't tell if something is a button or not, that is a poor design. If you design consistently, and treat all elements of the same type the same way, there would be no second guessing. It's not even hard to do, just requires a bit of planning.
- danellis 12y ago
  So what is the accordance for a button in a flat design?
  - dntrkv 12y ago
    It's up to the designer. But as long as it's used consistently through the design and it's different enough from other elements, your users won't have any issues. Either one of these would work: http://jsfiddle.net/5u2j549q/ http://jsfiddle.net/5u2j549q/
    - danellis 12y ago
      Where's the affordance in those? They don't look any different to badges.