Authenticity Without Real World Items

Never thought I'd be giving M$ love like this, but I cannot agree more than with this quote I heard today: "Folks need to understand that you need to be authentically digital, moving away from emulated real world metaphors." I agree these new experiences, like language, will require formulations that are more than just references to our non-digital world, but ones in the virtual realm as well.

Explicitly, this means a shift from dated shopping cart icons and "book-flipping" animations to new visual language based in contextual emotional states, delight, and universal principles of design based on other creative disciplines. It's about integrating the incredible repertoire of knowledge in our wonderful world into a digestible medium that empowers the users we design for.