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Flat UI jQuery Theme

github.com

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Re: Flat UI jQuery Theme

#11

Post by fyi80 »

occam65 wrote: post #7

The "flat" style being distributed today is a giant step backwards in usability, I can't for the life of me understand why it's so popular. On desktops, it's not clear until you hover that it's even an interactive element. On mobile? Forget it. You'll have better luck teaching your grandmother the difference between client and server side JavaScript.

It's popular because it's more portable across devices and screen sizes, and designers are too lazy to maintain two sets of UIs, one for fingers and one for mouses.

Re: Flat UI jQuery Theme

#12

Post by iaskwhy »

fyi80 wrote: post #11
occam65 wrote: post #7

The "flat" style being distributed today is a giant step backwards in usability, I can't for the life of me understand why it's so popular. On desktops, it's not clear until you hover that it's even an interactive element. On mobile? Forget it. You'll have better luck teaching your grandmother the difference between client and server side JavaScript.

It's popular because it's more portable across devices and screen sizes, and designers are too lazy to maintain two sets of UIs, one for fingers and one for mouses.

That's mostly true although there's actually no good reason for that, it's perfectly possible to have a non-flat UI without using any images or special image effects, say the new Google UI without the very subtle gradients, it's minimalistic but not flat, right?

Re: Flat UI jQuery Theme

#14

Post by padolsey »

occam65 wrote: post #7

The "flat" style being distributed today is a giant step backwards in usability, I can't for the life of me understand why it's so popular. On desktops, it's not clear until you hover that it's even an interactive element. On mobile? Forget it. You'll have better luck teaching your grandmother the difference between client and server side JavaScript.

> On desktops, it's not clear until you hover that it's even an interactive element.

Have you considered that this is due to you and others being conditioned to believe that beveled/3d elements indicate interactivity whereas flat elements do not? Maybe a change is in order...

Also related to the abandonment of "fake" depth in web design is the latest A-List-Apart article, "Material Honesty" - http://alistapart.com/article/material-honesty-on-the-web

Re: Flat UI jQuery Theme

#15

Post by jcomis »

occam65 wrote: post #7

The "flat" style being distributed today is a giant step backwards in usability, I can't for the life of me understand why it's so popular. On desktops, it's not clear until you hover that it's even an interactive element. On mobile? Forget it. You'll have better luck teaching your grandmother the difference between client and server side JavaScript.

I don't think that is the case at all. I think the goal of flat UI is that the very existence of an element implies that it is interactive. I do agree that there is a problem in that most of us are conditioned to look for gradients, shadows, and other affordances when looking for interactive elements. Perhaps time will solve that.

Re: Flat UI jQuery Theme

#16

Post by ajacksified »

padolsey wrote: post #14
occam65 wrote: post #7

The "flat" style being distributed today is a giant step backwards in usability, I can't for the life of me understand why it's so popular. On desktops, it's not clear until you hover that it's even an interactive element. On mobile? Forget it. You'll have better luck teaching your grandmother the difference between client and server side JavaScript.

> On desktops, it's not clear until you hover that it's even an interactive element. Have you considered that this is due to you and others being conditioned to believe that beveled/3d elements indicate interactivity whereas flat elements do not? Maybe a change is in order... Also related to the abandonment of "fake" depth in web design is the latest A-List-Apart article, "Material Honesty" - http://alistapart.com/ar…

It's more likely that the problem is because there's very little perceived affordance[1] that differentiates interactive elements from inert design.

[1] http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/affordances_and.html

Re: Flat UI jQuery Theme

#17

Post by d23 »

occam65 wrote: post #7

The "flat" style being distributed today is a giant step backwards in usability, I can't for the life of me understand why it's so popular. On desktops, it's not clear until you hover that it's even an interactive element. On mobile? Forget it. You'll have better luck teaching your grandmother the difference between client and server side JavaScript.

Sometimes it at least looks stylish. This just looks ugly.

Re: Flat UI jQuery Theme

#18

Post by ysapir »

amcdonald wrote: post #10
kevincoughlin wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to agree with img. This theme runs into problems on mobile devices. Depending on your audience it probably is not intuitive to them that many elements are interactive with the absence of mouseover effects. Still nice to see a flat UI port to jQuery UI though. Cheers.

Good article on why a flat ui might be good at: http://alistapart.com/article/material-honesty-on-the-web Crux of argument can be found in the statement: "Even lighting effects like drop shadows, form shadows, specular highlights, and reflections are dishonest because there’s no light source inside a digital screen that’s manufacturing these lighting effects." The article then puts forward the position that honesty t…

Perhaps the crux of its failure can be found in the statement: "A pure CSS button that’s crafted to look like a vintage stereo knob is dishonest."

If your application is a music player, then having anything but a stereo knob to control volume is dishonest. Yes, it is not a hi-fi component made of steel. But you are making a music player. If it doesn't look and feel like a music player, you are dishonest.

The same argument can be used to relate to some of the most basic UI metaphors. A desktop is not a physical desktop. But users would prefer a visual layout of icons representing apps on their mobiles and computers than a list of app names to choose from. A window is not a physical window, either.

So while flash is bad, denying the role of metaphors is just as bad. Maybe worse.

Re: Flat UI jQuery Theme

#19

Post by yesimahuman »

occam65 wrote: post #7

The "flat" style being distributed today is a giant step backwards in usability, I can't for the life of me understand why it's so popular. On desktops, it's not clear until you hover that it's even an interactive element. On mobile? Forget it. You'll have better luck teaching your grandmother the difference between client and server side JavaScript.

I think with very slight gradients to help indicate clickable areas and such, it can work very well.

Re: Flat UI jQuery Theme

#20

Post by simonlc »

occam65 wrote: post #7

The "flat" style being distributed today is a giant step backwards in usability, I can't for the life of me understand why it's so popular. On desktops, it's not clear until you hover that it's even an interactive element. On mobile? Forget it. You'll have better luck teaching your grandmother the difference between client and server side JavaScript.

Nothing is stopping you from using this as a framework and adding your own styles over the 'flatness'. If anything this is a much nicer base to work off of than if you started with something that had poorly made gradients.
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