Understanding flat and skeuomorphic design through the Zune HD
Location
PANEL: Learning About & Learning Through Machines and Solving Problems
Science Center A254
Document Type
Presentation
Start Date
4-26-2024 3:00 PM
End Date
4-26-2024 4:00 PM
Abstract
Microsoft’s Zune HD music player is a snapshot of a design theory in place and time, one that challenged its contemporaries’ design trends and helped to demonstrate the shift from skeuomorphic to flat design, providing a valuable and illustrative example of a design theory in application. This research examines the device in context, looking at the history of the device, its influences, and the designs that were used by devices at the same time. The Zune HD was a commercial failure and the last gasp of the Zune brand, but it allows us to see that skeuomorphism and flat design are approaches to solving similar problems and are valuable for how they make us feel and experience our technology.
Keywords:
Design, Computing, Skeuomorphism, Flat design
Recommended Citation
Watson, Ian, "Understanding flat and skeuomorphic design through the Zune HD" (2024). Research Symposium. 22.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/researchsymp/2024/presentations/22
Major
Individual Major in Science, Technology, and Society
Project Mentor(s)
Cynthia Taylor, Computer Science
Cindy Chapman, Religion
2024
Understanding flat and skeuomorphic design through the Zune HD
PANEL: Learning About & Learning Through Machines and Solving Problems
Science Center A254
Microsoft’s Zune HD music player is a snapshot of a design theory in place and time, one that challenged its contemporaries’ design trends and helped to demonstrate the shift from skeuomorphic to flat design, providing a valuable and illustrative example of a design theory in application. This research examines the device in context, looking at the history of the device, its influences, and the designs that were used by devices at the same time. The Zune HD was a commercial failure and the last gasp of the Zune brand, but it allows us to see that skeuomorphism and flat design are approaches to solving similar problems and are valuable for how they make us feel and experience our technology.
