Flat design vs rich (“skeuomorphic”) design - The bibliography

This is a list of academic articles, usability testing based publications and expert opinions evaluating flat (minimalistic) vs realistic (rich, “skeuomorphic”) design.

Wu, Jianfeng; Jiao, Dongfang; Lu, Chunfu; Li, Chengmin; Huang, Xiaofang; Weng, Suzan (2022) How do older adults process icons in visual search tasks? The combined effects of icon type and cognitive aging, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19 (8), 4525 | Link | PDF

“In terms of icon types, all older adults performed better at searching for the combinations of icon and text, especially skeuomorphic icon + text. All older adults performed poorly when searching for flat icons. ”

Yu, Na; Ouyang, Ziwei; Wang, Hehe; Tao, Da; Jing, Liang (2022) The effects of smart home interface touch button design features on performance among young and senior users, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19 (4), 2391 | Link | PDF

“In light of the results of this study, a rounded square button with <…> skeuomorphic icons should be used in the design of functional buttons to appeal to a broader range of users. ”

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