If You Must Use “Flat Design” Then Add Some Visual Affordances to Controls

Minimalism is generally good and reducing clutter and visual distractions can often help a user to find what they need more quickly. Minimalism does not, however, mean making controls so minimal that they are impossible to use.

The flat design aesthetic (refer to #13, Make Interactive Elements Obvious and Discoverable) tends to remove visual affordances, but not to the same extent as the newly-emerging “web brutalism.” Brutalism, inspired by the brutalist architectural style, is an aesthetic in product design that deliberately looks unstyled and raw (Craigslist is a great example):

Figure 65.1: Craigslist: no, it’s not broken—it’s supposed to look like that

Outside of being a joke for designers, this level of minimalism is too imposing and unnecessary and, like flat design, can degrade discoverability by removing all visual affordances.

Let...