OUGD501 - Theory Into Practice: Flat Design Content

I started doing the content for the flat design. I thought of most of it before I started designing, but when I got to the debate I thought of it while designing that bit cause I looked for different examples and didn't decide on which I wanted to focus on until then.
I used all of my own words, I think that was easy cause I have a good understanding of it now that I have done the essay.

What is it?
The advancement from skeuomorphism, the aim of this trend is to design with reduction in mind. Minimal, clean design now dominates the web as it is seen to be a step away from the information overload that surrounds the web. It also works well with the advancement of responsive sites and high resolution screens.

Quote
We believe that elegant interfaces are ones that have the most impact with the fewest elements. - LayerVault

How Does It Improve Accessibility?
Clean - Minimal and simple design is favoured due to its easy to understand qualities.
Information Overload - The internet is full of information - this strips it back and just keeps the necessities.
Loading Time - There are faster loading times when using flat design improving user experience.

The Debate - Forms
A place where flat design might not be suitable, is when used in forms. This is because the buttons don’t look clickable, it can be hard to distinguish between elements as well as create hierarchy between them. The user can find it hard to know how to fill out a form with flat design when they are used to skeuomorphism.

Primary and Secondary Elements - Markt and Boohoo

There should be hierarchy  between elements so that users can easily see a distinguishable difference between actions, such as send and cancel.  The Markt buttons show how you can still distinguish between primary and secondary elements within a flat design. The Boohoo example shows a skeuomorphic set of elements to let the user easily distinguish between printing a page or going back.

Shape - Jstor and Spotify

The shape of buttons are crucial to whether the user notices that the shape has a function and invites you to use it. If only colour is used to determine a button, this could have a negative impact on people who are colour blind, so it is best to combine it with a distinguishable shape. The Jstor button is very flat, and although Spotify has a seemingly flat design, their buttons are skeuomorphic, with shape, gradients and different colours.

Fields - Joyscoop and Barclay's

Fields are the area that the user types their information into. Joyscoop use a flat design, whereas Barclays use a skeuomorphism. This can be a long process if there are a lot of questions, and the user can often be inputting personal and confidential information. This means the forms should be trustworthy, functional and easy to use.

Do you think Flat, Skeuomorphic or a Bit of Both is best?