{"id":41856,"date":"2024-01-24T11:45:08","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T16:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=41856"},"modified":"2024-02-21T14:51:44","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T19:51:44","slug":"in-praise-of-buttons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2024\/01\/24\/in-praise-of-buttons\/","title":{"rendered":"In Praise of Buttons"},"content":{"rendered":"

Niko Kitsakis<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

In graphical user interfaces, we have seen an increase in buttons recently that consist merely of text or icons, without a clear, visible button shape being present. This insipid, uninspired mediocrity, exemplified by Google’s “Material Design” or – even worse – IBM’s “Carbon Design System”, was popularised by Apple’s iOS 7 and its equally miserable “Flat Design” aesthetics. This lazy minimalism is often considered modern and streamlined, but we must ask: Is it also user-friendly?<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

A button in a graphical user interface that has no button shape will likely give you no feedback either. While it might actually have an alternative state that gets activated when you touch it (a change of colour for instance), you are probably going to obstruct that with your finger. This is another advantage of buttons that look like buttons.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Update (2024-01-30): Nick Heer<\/a>:<\/p>\n

One objective of the visual interface language introduced in MacOS Big Sur was, according to Alan Dye<\/a>, to “[reduce] visual complexity to keep the focus on users’ content” which meant, for example, that “buttons and controls appear when you need them, and they recede when you don’t”.<\/p>

In practice, it means interfaces become ambiguously interactive. A design system of line art glyphs floating in detail-free window chrome makes it easier to create light and dark themes, but it also turns everything into a flavourless smear of grey tones.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

This is not specifically an argument in favour of decorated, glossy, detailed user interface elements — though I do like those — but it is an argument in favour of craft. Of heart and soul.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Previously:<\/p>\n