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What’s the next UI design trend?

Most apps are starting to look the same again…

Michal Malewicz
UX Collective

From Skeuomorphism to Modern Design and beyond.

How to break the ice?

When the first iPhone launched, the idea of interacting with a small device using multi-touch gestures was quite new. To make people more comfortable with the interface, the initial designs used Skeuomorphism for the UI.

Those were the days. It may look “dated” but it was definitely cute.

It basically meant they used “real world” elements like wooden shelves for books, stitched leather in notes and CD covers you flip through to give you a sense of the new digital world. By using familiar objects it was lowering the entry barrier for new users. The interface was unlike anything you’ve seen before, but it was still familiar.

People got used to touch devices.

After a while however people got used to their phones and the wood, metal and leather started to look dated and boring. We craved something new. Something fresh and slick. Something more digital.

Something flat?

It all boils down to the fact that we understand the “flatness” of our phone screens. Faux 3d elements and real-world textures…

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Responses (45)

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Even though I’m an atheist, I pray every night this new-skeuomorphism or neuomorsphism or whatever we wanna call it doesn’t take off.

Windows Phone tried this bold approach (and in a pretty beautiful way) but that sense of “no-fun” combined with almost no apps killed the platform.

I’m not a designer by any stretch, but I absolutely loved my Windows Phone at the time. The MetroUI was such a delightful experience. Totally disagree about “no fun”, it’s the only UI I enjoyed using.