Looking back on design languages, what Apple’s WWDC 2020 Keynote means for the future of design languages, and how we move on from here.

回顾设计语言，Apple的WWDC 2020主题演讲对设计语言的未来意味着什么，以及我们如何从这里继续前进。

With Apple’s WWDC 2020 just behind us last week we can now take a look at some of the interesting announcements Apple made during the week. What I like, as a designer, is that the design (both UI and UX) of the new operating systems was one of the first topics they discussed.

上周苹果公司的WWDC 2020即将到来，我们现在可以看看苹果在这一周中发布的一些有趣的消息。 作为设计师，我喜欢的是新操作系统的设计(UI和UX)是他们讨论的第一个主题之一。

One thing that has got people talking is the look-and-feel of the new macOS. The internet is divided. Some like it, while others don’t. Apple is moving back towards using a Skeuomorphism-based design language for its UI.

人们谈论的一件事是新macOS的外观。 互联网是分裂的。 有些人喜欢，而另一些则不喜欢。 苹果正在向其UI使用基于拟态化的设计语言。

Here’s what that means for the design languages we use in our work.

这就是我们在工作中使用的设计语言的含义。

什么是拟态 (What is Skeuomorphism)

Since Skeuomorphism is a design language, we first have to know what a design language is. As described by Nate Baldwin, a “design language” is used to describe the overall visual design of a digital product. It not only defines the components you use in your designs but also why you use it, when you use it and how you should use it.

由于拟态是一种设计语言，因此我们首先必须知道什么是设计语言。 如Nate Baldwin所述 ，“设计语言”用于描述数字产品的整体视觉设计。 它不仅定义了设计中使用的组件，还定义了为什么使用它，何时使用以及如何使用它。

“A design language is used to describe the overall visual design of a digital product.” — Nate Baldwin

“设计语言用于描述数字产品的整体视觉设计。” —内特·鲍德温

Skeuomorphism is a design language is known for mimicking elements of your design as to how they look in real life. The idea is that these elements will look familiar to users since they already know what it is and how it works in real life. This will in turn help users understand what the function of the element is on screen. Some famous examples of Skeuomorphism are the recycling bin, the mail icon, and many other icons.

拟态是一种设计语言，以模仿您的设计元素在现实生活中的外观而闻名。 想法是，这些元素对于用户来说会很熟悉，因为他们已经知道它是什么以及它在现实生活中如何工作。 反过来，这将帮助用户了解该元素在屏幕上的功能。 拟态化的一些著名示例是回收箱，邮件图标和许多其他图标。

The mimicking of real-life objects is called an affordance, as introduced by James Gibson in 1977. Having clear affordances is a big part of a good usability design. You can’t do without, really.

詹姆斯·吉布森(James Gibson)于1977年提出的模仿现实生活中的物体的方法称为“可负担性”。 拥有明确的负担是良好的可用性设计的重要组成部分。 真的，您不能没有。

“The affordances of the environment are what it offers the animal, what it provides or furnishes, either for good or ill.” — James Gibson

“环境的启示是它所提供的动物，它所提供的或提供 ，无论是好是坏。” —詹姆斯·吉布森

To give you an example, the horizontal surface of a chair affords sitting while the protrusion of a button affords pressing.

举个例子，椅子的水平表面可以坐着，而按钮的突出部分可以按压。

By closely replicating their real-world counterpart, elements designed following a Skeuomorphism design language show you what you can do with them since you already know what they can do in real life. It greatly helps with learning to understand how you can use your products.

通过紧密复制它们的真实世界，遵循拟态设计语言设计的元素向您展示了您可以对它们执行的操作，因为您已经知道它们在现实生活中可以执行的操作。 它有助于学习了解如何使用产品。

为什么我们从拟态主义继续前进？ (Why did we move on from Skeuomorphism?)

You might be thinking…if Skeuomorphism is so great, why did it disappear from most operating systems a few years back? Why don’t we use it anymore in our designs? There are a few reasons.

您可能在想……如果拟态非常好，为什么几年前它在大多数操作系统中都消失了？ 为什么我们在设计中不再使用它？ 有几个原因。

• Opponents of Skeuomorphism say that it is too cluttered. The details of elements that are designed this way clutter your screen and are distracting to users.
  反对拟态的人说它太混乱了。 以这种方式设计的元素的详细信息会使您的屏幕混乱，并分散用户的注意力。
• Users are getting used to the products they use. There’s a new generation growing up in a world where technology is all around them. They do not need to have real-life “training wheels” to guide them. There’s room for new designs, patterns, and interaction.
  用户已经习惯了他们使用的产品。 在一个技术无处不在的世界中长大了新一代。 他们不需要现实生活中的“训练轮”来指导他们。 有新的设计，样式和交互的空间。
• In addition to that, you don’t have to mimic real life. You can make use of the strengths and benefits that the screen provides. For example, you do not have to mimic a protruding button on a touch screen, since the user will not actually press the button. Another great example is the pull-to-refresh pattern. It is based on the real-life slot machine movement, but in a new digital way, without Skeuomorphism.
  除此之外，您不必模仿现实生活。 您可以利用屏幕提供的优势和好处。 例如，您不必模仿触摸屏上的突出按钮，因为用户实际上不会按下该按钮。 另一个很好的例子是“拉动刷新”模式。 它基于现实的老虎机运动，但是采用了一种新的数字方式，没有拟态。

此后，我们使用了哪些设计语言？ (What design languages have we used since?)

Apple and Microsoft made the switch to something we now call Flat Design roughly around the same time. Apple released iOS7 at the end of 2013 while Microsoft released Windows 8 at the end of 2012. Google came with Material Design, an evolution of flat design, in the summer of 2014. All three of the big players focussed on removing clutter. No more replica’s of real-life objects, no 3D and no drop shadows.

苹果和微软大约在同一时间转向了我们现在称为“平面设计”的产品。 Apple于2013年底发布了iOS7，而Microsoft于2012年底发布了Windows8。Google于2014年夏季推出了Material Design，这是平面设计的演变。所有这三大厂商都致力于消除混乱。 不再有现实对象的副本，也没有3D和阴影。

设计趋势在设计语言中扮演什么角色？ (What role do design trends play in design languages?)

Design trends come and go. We get bored easily. As human beings, we’re always looking for something new. Flat design might make way again for some sort of Skeuomorphism (or something else) in the future.

设计趋势来来往往。 我们很容易感到无聊。 作为人类，我们一直在寻找新事物。 将来，平面设计可能会再次为某种拟态(或其他形式)让路。

As users, we’ve had some time to get used to a new way of using our (mobile) devices. We do not need to see the real-life connection of an on-screen element to understand what it does anymore. There’s an entire generation growing up without knowing what a floppy disk is, so why should the save icon still look like it?

作为用户，我们已经有一段时间习惯于使用一种新的方式来使用我们的(移动)设备。 我们无需查看屏幕上元素的真实连接就可以了解它在做什么。 整整一代人都在成长，却不知道软盘是什么，那么为什么保存图标仍然看起来像它？

Apple arguably made a big breakthrough in the way we used our mobile phone in 2007 when Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone. Even breakthroughs take some time to get used to. Six years after the first iPhone, Apple moved on from Skeuomorphism. That has been plenty of time to get used to our new devices.

可以说，在2007年史蒂夫·乔布斯(Steve Jobs)推出首款iPhone时，苹果在使用手机方面取得了重大突破。 甚至突破也需要一些时间才能习惯。 在第一款iPhone推出六年后，苹果公司从“拟态”转向了未来。 那已经足够时间来适应我们的新设备了。

拟态化正在卷土重来……但是它真的消失了吗？ (Skeuomorphism is making a comeback…but was it ever really gone?)

After the release of iOS7, Forbes announced the death of Skeuomorphism. However, Skeuomorphism was never really dead. It only has been put more on the background in how we design operating systems now.

iOS7发行后， 《福布斯》宣布“拟态主义”的消亡 。 但是，拟态从来没有真正消失过。 它只是在我们现在如何设计操作系统的背景下被更多地介绍了。

Removing shadows, 3D effects and more does not remove the real-life connection a design element has to an object. On many occasions, we still use the floppy disk as a save icon, the telephone icon for calls and text bubbles for messages. If you zoom in on the Messages icon used in iOS you will see that the general shape of the text bubble remains the same. This means that the Skeuomorphism affordance remains as well. The only thing that changes is the focus. By removing bezels, shadows, and gradients the icon becomes flatter, but still recognizable as a text bubble.

删除阴影，3D效果等不会删除设计元素与对象之间的真实联系。 在许多情况下，我们仍将软盘用作保存图标，将电话图标用作呼叫，将文本气泡用作消息。 如果放大iOS中使用的“消息”图标，您将看到文本气泡的总体形状保持不变。 这意味着也保留了拟态能力。 唯一改变的是焦点。 通过删除边框，阴影和渐变，图标将变得更平整，但仍可识别为文本气泡。

If Skeuomorphism is dead, take a look at why Microsoft used to call Windows 8 “Metro”.

如果拟态化已死，请查看为什么微软以前将Windows 8称为“ Metro”。

“Metro is our design language. We call it Metro because it’s modern and clean. It’s fast and in motion.”

“地铁是我们的设计语言。 我们称其为Metro，因为它既现代又干净。 快速而动态。”

Right, just like the real-life counterpart. It is in our nature to spot patterns in our environment. In that way, Skeuomorphism will never die or disappear. It will always be a part of how we see things and how we design them. The only thing that will change is how much it will be on the foreground of our designs.

是的，就像现实生活中的对手一样。 在我们的环境中发现模式是我们的本性 。 这样，拟态永远不会消失或消失。 这将永远是我们如何看待事物以及如何设计事物的一部分。 唯一会改变的是它在我们设计的前景中将有多大改变。

An example

一个例子

Take a look at the Apple Watch or smartwatches in general. One big part of the design for smartwatches is designing the watch face. Watch faces look like their real-life counterparts. Now that we are getting more used to using a smartwatch, we are seeing more abstract or “flat” watch faces. We are moving away from a Skeuomorphism-focussed design language to a more flat-design focussed one now that smartwatches have been around a fair bit longer. Because of that, we can afford to create more colorful, abstract, and playful watch faces, without the interface getting cluttered or unclear for the user.

总体上看一下Apple Watch或智能手表。 智能手表设计的很大一部分是设计表盘。 表盘看起来像现实生活中的对应物。 现在，我们已经越来越习惯使用智能手表，我们看到的是更加抽象或“平坦”的表盘。 由于智能手表已经存在了相当长的时间，因此我们正在从以拟态论为重点的设计语言转变为以平面设计为重点的语言。 因此，我们可以负担得起创建更多彩色，抽象和俏皮的表盘，而用户不会感到界面混乱或不清楚。

However, that does not mean the new watch faces lose the affordances they bring.

但是，这并不意味着新表盘会失去其带来的负担。

That’s the thing. We’ve always had multiple design languages. The only thing that changes is the trend of which design language has the primary focus in our design. Whichever one that is depends for a big part on the maturity of the product the design language is used for.

就是这样 我们一直有多种设计语言。 唯一改变的是哪种设计语言成为我们设计的主要重点。 无论哪种，很大程度上都取决于使用设计语言的产品的成熟度。

The general idea is that the more we are used to a product, the more flat-design-focussed the design language we design for the product is.

通常的想法是，我们对产品使用的越多，我们为产品设计的设计语言就越注重平面设计。

设计语言具有重点。 (Design languages have focus.)

We have to get used to a new product whenever a new product hits the market. That’s the case for users but for designers as well.

每当有新产品投放市场时，我们就必须习惯新产品。 用户和设计师都是如此。

The success of this new product depends on how easy it is to use said product. Skeuomorphism affords the user guidance and support. It helps users get used to your product. When your users are getting used to your product, you can make the switch to a more flat design language, as we have seen in the past with smartphones.

这个新产品的成功取决于使用该产品的难易程度。 拟态为用户提供指导和支持。 它可以帮助用户习惯您的产品。 当您的用户习惯于您的产品时，您可以切换到更扁平的设计语言，就像我们过去在智能手机上看到的那样。

There have been many new developments in the world of design, tech, and consumer products since the introduction of smartphones. We now have smartwatches and wearables, augmented reality, and virtual reality. Some of which are still very new to us. That’s why we’re seeing a comeback of a more Skeuomorphism-focussed design language regarding those new technologies and products. We will see Skeuomorphism return, just as we will be seeing a more flat-design focussed design language after that, once users are getting used to new ways of interacting with these products.

自智能手机问世以来，设计，技术和消费产品领域已有许多新的发展。 现在，我们有了智能手表和可穿戴设备，增强现实和虚拟现实。 其中一些对我们来说仍然很新。 这就是为什么我们看到针对这些新技术和产品的一种以拟态主义为重点的设计语言卷土重来的原因。 一旦用户习惯了与这些产品交互的新方式，我们将看到Skeuomorphism回归，就像之后将看到一种以平面设计为重点的设计语言一样。

The takeaway for designers

设计师的外卖

As designers, we have to acknowledge that Skeuomorphism and Flat Design aren’t separate design languages. We combine both in a design language that is either Skeuomorphism-focused or flat design-focused. Which one that is changes through time-based on the maturity of the product you’re designing for and the current design trend in general.

作为设计师，我们必须承认，拟态和平面设计并不是分开的设计语言。 我们将两种语言结合为以拟态论为重点或以平面设计为重点的设计语言。 哪个会随时间而变化，这取决于您要设计的产品的成熟度以及当前的总体设计趋势。