Don’t hate on the Skeu

Trends come and go on the web and in digital design in general. When one gets overused we get tired and the inevitable backlash follows. 

We’ve already seen it happen many times over in our relatively young industry. From bitmap art, to grunge and the faux metal glass and plastic of those hazy crazy aqua web 2.0 days. 

Truth is though, the ideas weren’t all bad. It’s all too easy to react against some of the more horrific examples of bad skeuomorphism, but used with consideration, and a deft touch, using metaphors in our design isn’t just a nice idea, but (as if it needs saying) a massive benefit to UX too.

There’s been a lot of chatter about authenticity recently. Oliver wrote this last night in response to Microsofts new branding and slightly dubious “UX” strategy.

I couldn’t agree more. There is no authentic state for digital design. Lets face it - we’re all making this up. Everything we put down in pixels is either a pastiche of something tangible, or complete fiction. There is no frame of reference through which to establish what is authentic. 

So it boils down to what is most appropriate for a given use case. Does a calendar app need or warrant a fake leather UI? Definitely not. Does a kids flash game need to look more like something physical with big shiny plastic controls? Probably more so.

Everything in-between is a choice we as designers make. Sometimes things need more metaphor to help tell a story or communicate a function. The important thing is to use discretion. The world doesn’t need a leopard skin email client, but at the same time we’d like a little texture, contrast, light and shade to help us find our way around these made up things we spend all day using.