The skeuomorphism of Passbook App – Apple® Special Event September 12, 2012
On WWDC 2012 Apple® presented the disruptive Passbook app, aiming to change just about all aspects of discounts, ticketing and payments. On Apple® Special Event on September 12, 2012 the presentation repeated and the skeuomorphism applied was emphasised once more.
In order to further trigger users to change the way they use tickets, apple emulated all interface objects to a challenging level.
apple-passbook-skeuomorphism-ux-marketing-image
In my eyes, the “delete” functionality is a remarkable example of the skeuomorphism on Apple® iOS UI and in computer interfaces in general.
Here is a break-down of the design decision:
- The User Story goes like this: “As a user, I want to delete an expired ticket from my library so that I can focus on future items only”
- The UI metaphor is a paper shredder that destroys the item in multiple lanes.
- The User Experience is that the ticket is gone for good in a fancy way that you will remember.
Apple® passbook skeuomorphism on delete function
My view is that the skeuomorphism exaggerations was used in order to clearly trigger users transition from the physical elements. The design decision was valued as a strength in comparison with the competitive apps.
- But what about users that have no experience with the original shredder?
- What about breaking of the operating system interface design standards?
- What about waste on UI space?
With this app is more clear than ever that Apple will go long with skeuomorphism and will use this UI approach as a competitive advantage for its major competitors, Google and Microsoft.
You can learn more about Passbook in this Quora answer on the question: How will Apple’s new mobile wallet Passbook impact other mobile wallets?
You can learn more about Skeuomorphism on Wikipedia.
Let me know your view on this, in the poll below:
