Skeuomorphic Design
#Skeuomorphic Design
“Skeuomorphism began to take shape in the 1980s. One of its earliest proponents was Steve Jobs of Apple. The idea was simple; computer interfaces would be much more intuitive to users if skeuomorphic design was applied."
Skeuomorphism is dead, long live skeuomorphism, Interaction Design Foundation, 2020
Learning Curve
#Learning Curve
"Skeuomorphism helped a generation through the learning curve of coming to grips with a digital era. But, it also began to hold us back. We became familiar with the concepts and they entered the language and our day-to-day lives but skeuomorphic design led to huge amounts of clutter on the desktop. They brought too many useless details to our computers which we no longer needed.”
Skeuomorphism is dead, long live skeuomorphism, Interaction Design Foundation, 2020
Real Life Users
#Real Life Users
"That trash can let users drag stuff they didn’t want on their computers to an actual bin. You could move files to folders (another real life equivalent). It meant that we weren’t baffled by all these new facilities because we had something to reference them against in real life."
Skeuomorphism is dead, long live skeuomorphism, Interaction Design Foundation, 2020
Familiar Users
#Familiar Users
"Since skeuomorphic design is a derivative or an imitation of something else, it made sense for emerging technology and designers to use it in their designs. Users would feel more comfortable using applications, products and services that imitated objects which they were already familiar with. For example, a user would easily interpret what dragging a file into a trash can on the desktop would do: it would delete the file. Because in real life when you put something in the trash can, you basically delete it."
Skeuomorphic design: a beginner’s guide, UXPlanet, 2018
Perceived Affordances
#Perceived Affordances
"James Gibson, the environmental psychologist, once suggested that we perceive the world as a set of “affordances”. An affordance is an object that’s shape suggests its use. The most commonly cited affordances would include door handles and push buttons. Skeuomorphism also represents “perceived affordances”. It fits with our natural interpretation of objects but in a digital world.”
Skeuomorphism is dead, long live skeuomorphism, Interaction Design Foundation, 2020
Operating Systems
#Operating Systems
“Skeuomorphism is giving a familiar look and feel to novelties, not asking people to adapt to change immediately, and introducing a more gradual and comfortable transition for them. Apple's former iOS chief Scott Forstall has been a big proponent of this design concept, and has enjoyed the full support of Steve Jobs through the years, resulting in the all-too-familiar sights there, like tape reels, notebook springs, fake wood, virtual leather and green baize... until iOS 7.”
Daniel P., 2013
