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Beyond Flat

jackg.org

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Re: Beyond Flat

#11

Post by ch0wn »

Pxtl wrote: post #10

If you're going to discuss flat UI and compare the major platforms, omitting WP8 is absurd. WP7 jumped straight into the deep end of modern flat design, and WP8 continued the trend - some of the new iOS screens look like palette-swaps of Windows Phone.

How is omitting WP8 in an article like this "absurd"? The author shares what he learned from designing for the most popular platforms. WP8 isn't among them. I prefer having a well researched article where the author obviously deeply analyzed the nuances instead of some random collection of differences someone found comparing screenshots.

Re: Beyond Flat

#12

Post by goblinfoblin »

Pxtl wrote: post #10

If you're going to discuss flat UI and compare the major platforms, omitting WP8 is absurd. WP7 jumped straight into the deep end of modern flat design, and WP8 continued the trend - some of the new iOS screens look like palette-swaps of Windows Phone.

Maybe the author hasn't seen or interacted with a Windows Phone (or hasn't done so long enough to be familiar with it).

I know the only time I've ever seen one is on the commercials on TV.

Re: Beyond Flat

#13

Post by waqf »

This site went out of its way to give me a bad experience on mobile (bad enough that I didn't finish reading the article): the page I received on Android/Chrome was so narrow that I couldn't unzoom enough to fit what I consider a reasonable amount of text on the screen.

Re: Beyond Flat

#14

Post by bsenftner »

Flat is poor design, the fad of the moment, and will hopefully be gone in short order. If anything, Flat as a design trend is elitist: it creates "secret knowledge" of how to operate a visually unhelpful interface, enabling "those who know" to help those confused by fucking awful design.

Re: Beyond Flat

#15

Post by mbq »

mortenjorck wrote: post #4
tpetrina wrote: post #3

This failed to go beyond Flat UI concepts, it merely compared iOS and Android guidelines. It's more of a "contemporary Flat UI design". When viewed that way, it actually is a good article.

I was expecting something more along the lines of this post that I wrote a few months ago: http://interuserface.net/2013/05/flat-is-not-the-opposite-of... One of my draft titles for it was "moving beyond flat and skeuomorphic."

Yeah, I smiled looking at first screen-shot of "overskeumorphic" iOS 6 which shows both flat-designed and double skeumorphic power level indicator (;

Re: Beyond Flat

#16

Post by molbioguy »

Minor point. I think the article is incorrect regarding long press being absent on iOS. I think it's been available for some time as UILongPressGestureRecognizer.

Re: Beyond Flat

#17

Post by josho »

bsenftner wrote: post #14

Flat is poor design, the fad of the moment, and will hopefully be gone in short order. If anything, Flat as a design trend is elitist: it creates "secret knowledge" of how to operate a visually unhelpful interface, enabling "those who know" to help those confused by fucking awful design.

I agree with your point. Not sure why the down vote, so I'll add to your thought stream…

I dislike Flat design because it removes visual affordances that help novice users navigate a new interface. I loathe Google Maps on iOS because it is unclear to me that certain icons act as both buttons and draggable inputs. I've been casually using the app since its release, and I continue to be frustrated by it today.

While the original iOS design provided visual embellishments that served two purposes. First, textures provide familiar context giving new users a sense of immediate understanding. Second, basic features were obvious to intuit. It was clear what was a button and what was interface chrome. The same cannot be said with iOS7. Yes, it's easy to learn that colorized text is a button. But, it must be learned, and is easy to miss when quickly scanning the interface.

For these reasons I believe the parent's points are valid. I do not however want to abandon flat design, but personally hope that we find a balance between styles rather than adhere to flat design orthodoxy.

Re: Beyond Flat

#18

Post by pdenya »

josho wrote: post #17
bsenftner wrote: post #14

Flat is poor design, the fad of the moment, and will hopefully be gone in short order. If anything, Flat as a design trend is elitist: it creates "secret knowledge" of how to operate a visually unhelpful interface, enabling "those who know" to help those confused by fucking awful design.

I agree with your point. Not sure why the down vote, so I'll add to your thought stream… I dislike Flat design because it removes visual affordances that help novice users navigate a new interface. I loathe Google Maps on iOS because it is unclear to me that certain icons act as both buttons and draggable inputs. I've been casually using the app since its release, and I continue to be frustrated by it today. While th…

I've heard a lot of complaints against flat mentioning novice users specifically and I have 2 things to say to that in regards to iOS7:

1) It's a tool people use daily that they'll get used to quickly, I don't mind if new users have a slightly higher learning curve (in theory, I don't concede that it's actually the case here).

2) Anecdotally it seems to not be difficult to figure out. My 3y/o has had no additional trouble navigating my iphone/ipad since I upgraded to iOS7. Neither has my wife or my 4y/o.

Re: Beyond Flat

#19

Post by [deleted] »

molbioguy wrote: post #16

Minor point. I think the article is incorrect regarding long press being absent on iOS. I think it's been available for some time as UILongPressGestureRecognizer.

[deleted]

Re: Beyond Flat

#20

Post by LiweiZ »

tpetrina wrote: post #3

This failed to go beyond Flat UI concepts, it merely compared iOS and Android guidelines. It's more of a "contemporary Flat UI design". When viewed that way, it actually is a good article.

I second this. The author provided a comparison between the two system anyway. Though I think he is more likely talking about this topic from an Android user's perspective. I wrote my thoughts regarding iOS 7's UX almost 2 months ago: http://mattzlw.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/ios-7-beta-ux-thinki... Moreover, flat itself is just a name we call on graphic design. It is just one of many elements of UX design. Everything starts from a bar with a large screen on our palms.
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