Re:macOS Monterey Beta 3: Apple Redesigns Safari Tab Interfa...
by CoryAlexMartin on Wednesday July 14, 2021 @09:11PM
(#27840435)
I agree. I wasn't a fan of the extreme skeuomorphism that Scott Forstall introduced (iCal having stitched leather and ripped paper, for example), but overall the GUI was in a much better place then.
I bought a 2009 iMac with Snow Leopard on it and used it for the first time today, and found the process of finding, recognizing and clicking on buttons to be faster than in both Big Sur and even Catalina, despite me using Catalina daily. I don't have any data to substantiate this, but I think there's a good chance that interfaces with contrast, depth and well defined separation between elements are generally better suited to our eyes and brains.
Re:macOS Monterey Beta 3: Apple Redesigns Safari Tab Interfa...
by grishka on Thursday July 15, 2021 @03:45AM
(#27842330)
> I think there's a good chance that interfaces with contrast, depth and well defined separation between elements are generally better suited to our eyes and brains.
Obviously. IRL everything has depth and many things have well-defined boundaries. Shadows are also a natural phenomenon that our brains have learned to interpret as a signal for depth.
In my own UIs, I still always use shadows and/or borders.
Looking at the screenshots of Big Sur (my mac is too old to install it), I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, they're doing more skeuomorphism in some places, especially icons. But in some other places, buttons are losing borders for this godforsaken "clean" look. But I do hope that the departure of Johny Ive is going to help with them going back to a good design.
And it's very unfortunate that Apple doesn't have a visionary CEO any more. Tim Cook feels more concerned with investors than anything else.