I think most UI and industrial design has regressed a lot in recent years. Two big issues are:
1. Obsession with "minimalism" and "clean design". Taken to the extreme by Jony Ive, where we started fearing what else Apple would take away in new revisions of their hardware and software. Scrollbars disappeared, buttons started blending into the background or becoming invisible, everything was "clean", utterly undiscoverable, and annoying to use. It only looked good in the keynote demo.
2. Fashion. Designers love following other designers and fashion trends run rampant. That's why on our phones we are beginning to get a bunch of icons that all look the same, every one is an abstract geometric pattern using at least 4 saturated colors. And we can't tell them from one another.
I am so hoping for a reversion of both trends. You don't have to design like everybody else!
1. Obsession with "minimalism" and "clean design". Taken to the extreme by Jony Ive, where we started fearing what else Apple would take away in new revisions of their hardware and software. Scrollbars disappeared, buttons started blending into the background or becoming invisible, everything was "clean", utterly undiscoverable, and annoying to use. It only looked good in the keynote demo.
2. Fashion. Designers love following other designers and fashion trends run rampant. That's why on our phones we are beginning to get a bunch of icons that all look the same, every one is an abstract geometric pattern using at least 4 saturated colors. And we can't tell them from one another.
I am so hoping for a reversion of both trends. You don't have to design like everybody else!