The term esqueumorphism comes from the Greek, from the words skéuos , which means tool, and morphê , which means form. That is, something like 'tool shape '.
In the design of digital applications, the scheumorphism is used in order to facilitate the user experience, and it consists of representing real physical objects in the application interfaces. In this way it is achieved that the user can know immediately, without thinking, the function of each element of an interface.
There are many examples to understand what a scheumorphism is: the note-taking applications that look like a real notebook, the effect of turning pages in an e-book , the folder system for storing files on a computer, the radio applications that resemble a dial with its corresponding buttons …
There may also be sound scheumorphisms, such as the sound that photography applications make when taking an image, which mimics the sound of the shutter of a physical camera.
The scheumorphism has been very useful to make the jump from the analog world to the digital world has been smoother and easier for users. Nowadays, with the new technologies already fully integrated into our culture, the scheumorphisms have lost part of their original utility, but they have become widely accepted concepts and for that reason they are maintained.
