RE: Another NNGroup post on the problems with Flat design.

That's got to be the first time someone used 'fun and 'tax in the same
sentence! :)

Steve Lee
Sent from my mobile device Please excuse typing errors

On 6 Sep 2017 12:07, "Michael Pluke" <Mike.Pluke@castle-consult.com> wrote:

> I totally agree – loss of clear affordances that distinguish interactive
> from non-interactive elements on a page is probably the biggest issue of
> all.
>
>
>
> I’m sure that influence from games design has been a big factor, but that
> is so wrong. Part of the fun of many games is the discovery that you can
> interact with an element in a scene. When the task is something like
> filling in an online tax form, the “fun” of not knowing how to interact
> with the form rapidly turns into frustration and/or panic!
>
>
>
> A long time back when I was working directly with designers they were
> really keen to apply the whizzy techniques that they found in various games
> to productivity oriented applications. Losing all visible signs that an
> element was interactive seemed to be a badge of honour. They loved how
> beautifully uncluttered this invisible UI was! Fortunately I was able to
> resist their ideas at the time – but it seems now that the lunatics have
> taken over the asylum J
>
>
>
> Mike
>
>
>
> *From:* Steve Lee [mailto:steve@opendirective.com]
> *Sent:* 06 September 2017 11:19
> *To:* Michael Pluke <Mike.Pluke@castle-consult.com>
> *Cc:* chagnon@pubcom.com; public-cognitive-a11y-tf <
> public-cognitive-a11y-tf@w3.org>
> *Subject:* Re: Another NNGroup post on the problems with Flat design.
>
>
>
> The loss of clear affordances is the big issue I see. It's just not
> clear what parts of the page are interactive. You often have to
> explore if the interactability is not obvious from the text (perhaps
> this comes form games players who are also devs). Plus exploring can
> be a real problem for some users.
>
> I do osee some UIs are adding subtle animations to indicate an action
> is occuring though, but that's after the event :)
>
> Steve Lee
> OpenDirective http://opendirective.com
>
>
> On 6 September 2017 at 11:14, Michael Pluke
> <Mike.Pluke@castle-consult.com> wrote:
> > I entirely agree with the second part of this – that the biggest problem
> > with today’s “flat design” solutions is the lack of contrast.
> >
> >
> >
> > However, I’m not entirely convinced that the removal of “visual clutter”
> > like drop shadows is always a straight benefit for accessibility. Things
> > like shadows and bevelling have often been used to clearly indicate the
> > activation of a control. For example, when a control is activated the
> > shadows are often changed to give the impression that the control has
> > physically moved. This provides some immediate feedback that the control
> has
> > been successfully activated. In my experience, I do not often get such
> clear
> > and obvious feedback on many modern UI designs.
> >
> >
> >
> > This type of clear success feedback is particularly reassuring for any
> > people with cognitive disabilities who are uncomfortable with
> uncertainty.
> >
> >
> >
> > Best regards
> >
> >
> >
> > Mike
> >
> >
> >
> > From: Chagnon | PubCom [mailto:chagnon@pubcom.com <chagnon@pubcom.com>]
> > Sent: 05 September 2017 15:36
> > To: 'Steve Lee' <steve@opendirective.com>; 'public-cognitive-a11y-tf'
> > <public-cognitive-a11y-tf@w3.org>
> > Subject: RE: Another NNGroup post on the problems with Flat design.
> >
> >
> >
> > It's not the "Flat Design" that's the problem. That just means that
> visual
> > clutter has been removed, such as drop shadows and beveled 3-D sculpted
> > buttons.
> >
> > That actually benefits accessibility.
> >
> > The problem is the lack of visual contrast that is now in vogue with
> > designers (and I'm speaking as a professional designer). It has nothing
> to
> > do with the "flat design" theory, but is being built into websites,
> > software, digital media, and graphic design along with the flat concept.
> >
> > Grey text on a grey background isn't "flat design." It's just plain
> stupid
> > and unreadable.
> >
> > --Bevi Chagnon
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Steve Lee [mailto:steve@opendirective.com
> <steve@opendirective.com>]
> > Sent: Monday, September 4, 2017 2:23 PM
> > To: public-cognitive-a11y-tf <public-cognitive-a11y-tf@w3.org>
> > Subject: Another NNGroup post on the problems with Flat design.
> >
> > "Flat UI Elements Attract Less Attention and Cause Uncertainty"
> >
> > https://www.nngroup.com/articles/flat-ui-less-
> attention-cause-uncertainty
> >
> > Steve Lee
> > OpenDirective http://opendirective.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>