Why does skeuomorphism exist?

Steve Jobs was considered a major proponent of skeuomorphism. This is mainly because of how invested he was in creating user-friendly and accessible UXs.

A picture of Apple's founder, Steve Jobs.

This shows us that skeuomorphism exists purely as a tool to help create more seamless user experiences. By using real-world icons and objects that are familiar to us in day-to-day life, when those are transferred to a virtual medium, there is a sense of familiarity.

DID YOU KNOW? Your camera “click” is skeuomorphic! The shutter sound your phone makes when taking a photo is a skeuomorph of analog cameras, even though digital cameras don't need the sound.

An image with different examples of skeuomorphism

Now that we've covered the basic 'what' and 'why', have a look at some more common examples on the next page:

Click to see some real-world examples

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