Facebook’s design has been widely discussed among designers and users, and I’ve seen plenty of criticism for a while now.
[su_quote cite=”Peter Kivuti” url=”http://twitter.com/nimimikivuti”]I have been, in the recent past, a fan of flat design. I really like the simple look in the UI that comes with it, so when i came across this Google Chrome Facebook Flat extension, I immediately implemented it on my favorite browser, and i must say, it makes the UX much more palatable if i could say, everything is well accented without too much clutter![/su_quote]
Why Flat Design?
Flat design is popular for many reasons, first, is its edge in performance. Pages with flat design are easier to load than pages containing complex graphic elements.
Besides that, flat design is very responsive-friendly, adjusting easily to screens of different devices. As mobile users outnumber desktop users on the Web, flat design is becoming much more attractive for creating a device-agnostic experience.
Finally, flat design conveys a very mature visual aesthetic while being very easy to use. Many designers and users appreciate the beauty of simplicity. In fact, research even shows that beautiful design works better. The greatest testament to the power of flat design is perhaps Apple’s choice to abandon its trademark skeuomorphic interface for a more flat-inspired look in their latest iOS 8.
Creating the illusion of invisibility
When planning the new interface, you need to consider not only financial interests, but also the motivation of users.
A good interface design is one you don’t notice. Like an invisible hand, it simply guides the user towards completing their goals. It does not contain unnecessary elements (like five buttons with a proposal to advertise on the home page). Everything is concise, clear and understandable.
Next time you’re thinking about adding a new element to your interface, ask yourself : “Does the user really need it?”.
I found this interface really intimidating and as we proceed, we always will look for better ways of improving User Interface for the primary purpose of a rewarding User Exerience.
Try out the new Google Chrome extension by Rof TenTik which really impressed me, and ofcourse feel free to share your comments below.
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