What makes the quasi-materialized design good and bad?

It has been a while before the release of iOS7. Some Discussions on quasi-materialized design and flat design are currently being discussed. In that discussion, the advantages and disadvantages of the two design ideas were fully discussed. However, during the discussion, the proposed design proposed by the persons who wish to design the designs could be carried out, the de-materialized design that supports flat design is criticized for business trips, but there is no discussion about what makes the de-materialized design good or poor. This article describes some of my views gained after comparing the anthropomorphic designs with different evaluations.

Good quasi-materialized design comes from nostalgia

The original interface of the Podcast application in iOS is often criticized in articles that criticize the quasi-materialized design. The main reason for this dislike of this interface is over-quasi-materialized, the same is the music playing interface, and it is also a quasi-materialized design. The records and record albums of the Jing mobile client launched a few times ago have been praised and criticized, in Jing, the interaction between a record and a record is even materialized. Does Podcast only describe the buttons, knob, and background image styles. As for the interaction between the buttons and the knob, it is also common in the interaction design, so that it is over-quasi-materialized?

After a simple investigation, we can find that the Podcast interface imitates a bang tape recorder with a model of TG 60. I believe that apart from fans of music equipment and those who have studied the history of industrial design, I am afraid that not many people will think of the TG 60 of Braun when they see Podcast, i'm afraid I thought of General recorders for listening or music tapes in my English class. Although the electronics industry is too developed, the recorder has long been not the mainstream, but at least the recorder has been out of the mainstream for less than 10 years, it is too difficult for mainstream users to see the interface Podcast pays tribute to the classic design. The fade-out of phonograph is a matter decades ago. Although the forms of recording and recording needles have been retained for now, most of them are on professional music devices, this kind of mechanical interaction has vanished from people's daily lives. Jing introduces this quasi-materialized interaction method, which can lead to the illusion of playing a phonograph in the classical scenes depicted in a movie, thus generating nostalgia, it is a more successful tribute to the classic network than Podcast.

When the design to be materialized is to pay tribute to the classic, do not pay tribute to your classic. When this design aroused nostalgia in your heart, others' hearts may be indifferent.

Good quasi-materialized design comes from Quality

Similar to the quasi-materialized visual elements, the Reminders of the leather texture in the iOS system are rarely criticized, while the Newsstand of the wood texture is also supported by many people like iBooks. In these applications, the visual pursuit of texture and texture details is definitely not inferior to the "over-quasi-materialized" of Podcast ", but why is the evaluation of these designs greater than or less favorable? I think the reason is the difference in texture. In this age, due to lower costs and more efficient production, plastic and metal materials gradually dominated all aspects of our lives, when we are surrounded by these two types of materials, such as wood and cortex, we often have spiritual feelings other than material feelings. Therefore, the texture of wood and cortex can satisfy our pursuit of quality. In addition to the simplicity and beauty of plastics in a few cases, the texture of a few metals can give us a sense of the future, most plastics and metals are cheap. Therefore, Podcast imitates TG 60, which mainly uses plastics and metals. Instead of transmitting the "this is a classic design" information to Mainstream users, it will make people feel very cheap.

Similarly, it is a quasi-materialized design. The Evernote food sushi icon is also very successful. In this icon, it is no longer a texture or texture, but a theme of the icon-sushi. In our food thinking, Japanese sushi, as a representative of Japanese food culture, is not so much a food as a edible handicraft, being able to deliver us a delicate, attentive, and refined view of details is a representative of the pursuit of quality, and this representativeness is enhanced by careful disk loading in the icons.

The quasi-materialized design is not feasible, and there is no excessive problem. The key is to determine what it is and whether it can arouse people's emotions, otherwise, there will be no monotonous quasi-materialized emotions. In fact, there is not much difference with the flat design, and the style will be lost to others because it is too cumbersome.

Good quasi-materialized design comes from novelty

In addition, there are some quasi-materialized designs. What they imitate is very simple and can be seen everywhere. They do not produce nostalgia, and their pursuit of quality is not so strong. However, because of its unique design in visual elements or interactions, it is very novel and gets the user's favor. A typical example is the clock application in the hammer OS. This application can be said to copy the interaction method of a traditional clock tool to the device, and pay attention to some details in the interaction process. This interaction method is not easy for everyone to come into contact with. Although there is no nostalgia for it, its texture and texture have almost no quasi-materialized content, A simple watch and clock tool does not have any high quality embodiment, but this novel interaction method brings people's gaming experience in interaction and creates a fun feeling in the Process of use, the user experience is beyond the scope of common clock applications. In the failed Podcast design, although it imitates a classic tape recorder that is unfamiliar to Mainstream users, it is a pity that many people have come into contact with similar recorders, and it is difficult to have a novel feeling in the face of this interface.

Better design and application future

As a design style, quasi-materialized design has no right or wrong. Especially when the development of the mobile Internet reaches this point, if you enter the mobile Internet from the traditional Internet field, you only need to follow the system design guidelines to make a standardized design, by continuing to provide services and brand influence, you can achieve some success. If you start from the mobile platform directly without your own unique design style, it may be difficult to stand out.

When the current flat design is becoming a trend, a good quasi-materialized design is more eye-catching.

At the same time, most of the applications currently have excellent visual design. More innovative space is in interaction design, while the quasi-materialized thinking can bring new inspiration for interaction methods. However, when mainstream systems have been flushed, and the current "good applications" and system native are getting more and more like, we can predict that in the days to come, applications with "good design" will surely be occupied by good quasi-materialized design and new interaction methods.