Skeuomorphism and meaning in e-learning platform interfaces

We don't often confuse the trash can with the recycling container, but it can happen if they look too much alike. In the virtual world, where the slightest button can lead to a more complicated action than its name would suggest, it's a good idea to differentiate between functions.

In the glorious days of coded commands such as "call init" or "c://", the arrival of symbols and metaphors was a relief; "skeuomorphism" (skeu, ornament and morph, form) was back in vogue.

Skeuomorphism

This concept arose from the relationship between technologies and customs: a technology is adopted, practices and traditions develop around it, objects characterize it and then another technology replaces it, but its form is part of the culture, so the new technology adopts a form or decoration that identifies it with its former function but has nothing to do with its current operation.

So we have decorative buttons on clothes that close with a zipper or Velcro. We also have on our screens a dustbin, a mail envelope, a microphone, folders and all sorts of virtual objects that remind us of the concepts associated with their functions. So instead of "delete folder" or "print file", an image of a dustbin or printer communicates the message just as clearly and more simply.

But as sites become more complex and functions more extensive, the number of symbols becomes problematic and their interpretation often confusing. Simply switching from one software program, device or operating system to another can sometimes lead to confusion. Now imagine an elderly person or a new immigrant faced with metaphors that have no resonance with them, and you'll understand the limits of the practice. This is how we sometimes feel when faced with the symbols of complex graphics or editing software.

So we go back to basics: accessibility, ease of use, simplicity. We use cultural references where we need them. Here, a symbol is enough, while there it's easier to use a metaphor and its intuitive relationships, or a simple heading like "Copy".

And in education?

A tour of e-learning platforms reveals a wide variety of designs, but certain choices seem to be more popular.

Some platforms employ extensive metaphors, from the study table via the classroom or laboratory to the campus with its library, conference room, café, etc., while others remain extremely functionally arid: folder and tree structure where everything is of equal value and importance.

Metaphor is no substitute for reality and, above all, it's not universal. It's often appropriate for generalities and reception, but as soon as it comes to more specialized, original or infrequent functions, it's abandoned in favor of icons and headings, which is what most platforms choose.

Those that use icons usually present and explain them in the start menu, and the further you go, the more you refer to the icon alone. Skeuomorphism is only used on rare occasions (recording studio, note-taking, etc.), and is usually confined to symbolism.

With simulators or Second Life, as with the dentist's office in the Dental Life universe, metaphor is taken to the extreme; it's no longer a question of skeuomorphism, but rather of reproducing object functions as realistically as possible.

Measuring design effort

In complex, evolving environments, the use of skeuomorphism and metaphor requires a great deal of effort, and above all is horribly limiting when it comes to adding a function that has no equivalent in the chosen metaphor, on pain of falling into incoherence.

What's more, there are few referents that are universally shared and applicable to all disciplines, which is what most platforms are subject to.

So we prefer to put more effort into ergonomics and aesthetics than into "decoration", except when it's a question of making a simulation application look realistic, or fetching an emotion. Still, it's more interesting to trade shares on the stock market in an environment that resembles the stock market and its effervescence, or to take part in a debate in a lively room.

References

Skeuomorphism versus flat design: a debate that has no place - Anthony Nelzin in Macg - May 2013
http://www.macg.co/unes/voir/132067/

Example of a "Flat design" application: Soulver: http: //www.acqualia.com/soulver/

Directory of e-learning platforms - Thot Cursus
http://cursus.edu/institutions-formations-ressources/formation/13486/plates-formes-learning-formation-2012/

Dental Life - http://www.dentallife.fr/

Simulators - Thot Cursus