Skeuomorphism, which imitates real-world textures and physical elements within digital interfaces, had its heyday in the early 2000s before falling out of favor with the advent of minimalism. Designers are now embracing skeuomorphism once again as a way of creating more comfortable, familiar, and engaging digital user experiences.
In exploring the long-term prospects of this revival of skeuomorphism, we’ll consider the origins, decline, and resurgence of skeuomorphism, highlighting its role in bridging the gap between the physical and digital realms in modern UX design.
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The Origins and Evolution of Skeuomorphic Design
Skeuomorphic design has its roots in the earliest digital user interfaces, when the goal was to make technology feel more familiar to users. For example, Apple’s early user interfaces incorporated elements such as bookshelves, calculators, and calendars that looked just like their physical counterparts. They started the trend with the release of Mac OS 8 in 1997, and other iterations followed in subsequent years. These realistic visuals helped bridge the gap between the physical world and the new digital environments users were just beginning to navigate.
Subsequently, changing tastes in design drove the rise, then decline of skeuomorphism. As the digital world matured, skeuomorphic elements began to feel overly ornate, cumbersome, and inefficient, leading to the emergence of more streamlined design alternatives. Simply put, skeuomorphism didn’t align with UX designers’ view of the future of UX design, and they forsook skeuomorphism for sleek minimalism.
Why Skeuomorphism Disappeared: The Rise of Flat and Material Design
There was no single culprit behind the demise of skeuomorphism, but many consider Apple to have been a driving force in this regard—as it is once again. In 2013, Apple’s devices were well established within the mainstream, so the radical shift toward minimalist design in iOS 7 had a noticeable impact.
Aside from Apple’s influence, we can also attribute the fall of skeuomorphism to other factors such as the following:
Critiques of skeuomorphic design pointed out its tendency toward visual clutter and the cognitive overload that resulted, making user interfaces feel dated and less efficient.
Plus, further contributing to its decline, scaling skeuomorphic design across multiple devices and screen sizes was challenging. With smartphones’ increase in popularity in the 2010s, trying to adapt complex skeuomorphic designs across multiple devices from various manufacturers would have been a nightmare.
Around the same time, flat design emerged as the prevalent solution for responsive design—removing embellishments and focusing on clean lines, bright colors, and easy-to-use navigation.
Google’s Material Design took this a step further by integrating subtle depth and movement, creating user interfaces that were simple but interactive and had a more future-forward feel. Designers and users alike favored this minimalistic approach for its efficiency, streamlined visuals, and faster page-load times. But, as we all know, the nature of UX design is cyclical, so it didn’t take long for another change in trends to arrive.
Why Skeuomorphism is Making a Comeback
As technology continues to evolve, so do users’ expectations. Today’s users seek more than just functional efficiency; they want user interfaces that are engaging, easy, and emotionally resonant. Skeuomorphism, with its familiar visual metaphors, has found a new audience that appreciates a balance between modernity and familiarity.
One key reason for the return of skeuomorphic design is its ability to evoke an emotional connection—a form of nostalgia. By mimicking real-world elements, skeuomorphism creates a sense of nostalgia and familiarity, which can enhance users’ comfort and ease onboarding—particularly for older users or those less familiar with digital environments. Skeuomorphism uses the familiar to explain the unfamiliar in a straightforward way.
Moreover, advancements in technology such as high-resolution displays, voluminous storage, and more powerful hardware have enabled UX designers to create highly detailed, visually rich skeuomorphic elements without having to worry about performance.
Benefits of Skeuomorphism
Skeuomorphic design leverages familiar visual metaphors, which can significantly reduce cognitive friction for users. By replicating real-world actions such as flipping a page or turning a knob, skeuomorphism lets users draw on their existing knowledge, thereby shortening learning curves and making digital interactions more natural.
At the same time, the incorporation of skeuomorphic elements can be especially helpful during the onboarding process because it uses physical analogies to help users understand how digital tools work. This approach can be particularly beneficial in contexts where ease of use is paramount such as education and healthcare applications.
Plus, skeuomorphism allows UX designers to manage their digital assets more effectively because the designs themselves are less convoluted and abstract. Therefore, redesigning and recycling particular UI elements has become much easier.
The Modern Take on Skeuomorphism: Practical UX Design Applications
Today’s skeuomorphism is more refined and better integrated into the design process. It enhances usability without overwhelming the user. Rather than directly copying physical textures and elements, modern skeuomorphism often adds nuanced interactions to otherwise minimal designs and, in a way, marries flat design and skeuomorphism.
This subtle blending results in visually appealing user interfaces that feel more tangible and approachable. We’re already seeing the application of skeuomorphism in user interfaces—primarily in the following contexts:
AR and VR interfaces—Skeuomorphism has found new life in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), where bridging the physical and virtual worlds is essential. User interfaces that replicate real-world analogies—for example, virtual buttons that resemble actual buttons—can help users intuitively understand how to use them to interact within these immersive environments.
smart devices and IoT—Skeuomorphic design is also proving valuable in IoT products, where digital controls replicate the physical behaviors to which users are accustomed. The tactile feedback of smart thermostats, for instance, can mimic the sensation of turning a physical dial, making the experience more natural.
digital spaces where skeuomorphism provides particular benefits—Mobile applications, music-production software, and gaming interfaces all benefit from skeuomorphic touches that enhance usability. For example, virtual knobs, faders, and dials in music apps make complex digital interactions more accessible by replicating physical studio equipment.
Modern UX design often strikes a balance between skeuomorphic and flat design elements in creating optimized user experiences. With the introduction of visual cues such as soft shadows, gentle gradients, and textural hints, designers can achieve a skeuomorphic feel without designs’ becoming overly literal or ornate. This nuanced approach creates an aesthetic that is both visually engaging and easy to navigate, blending the best of both worlds.
At the same time, however, more demanding apps such as those that are aided by artificial intelligence (AI) and VR software will most likely be sufficiently complex to require a certain level of skeuomorphism. Likewise, developments in Wi-Fi technology are moving along fast enough that there won’t be any need to use flat design elements for greater usability.
Education and healthcare are particularly promising fields for the growth of skeuomorphism. In these industries, ease of use and familiarity are crucial, and skeuomorphic design could make their digital tools more accessible to a broader audience.
Conclusion
The renaissance of skeuomorphic design in modern user experiences reflects a growing recognition of the importance of user comfort, familiarity, and emotional engagement. By subtly bridging the digital and physical worlds, skeuomorphism creates user experiences that are not only visually appealing but resonate deeply with users. As technologies such as AR, VR, and haptics continue to evolve, skeuomorphism will likely play an increasingly vital role in shaping the future of UX design.
Magnus works as an independent copywriter and ecommerce search-engine optimization (SEO) specialist. Before embarking on his copywriting career, he was a content writer for digital-marketing agencies such as Synlighet AS and Omega Media, where he mastered on-page and technical SEO. Magnus holds a degree in Marketing and Brand Management. Read More
