<P> Flat design was initially introduced by Microsoft with its Metro design and later on they used an alternative flat design . In 2002, Microsoft released Windows Media Center, and in 2006, the Zune MP3 player, both of which contained elements of flat design . The design of the Zune was clean and simple, with a focus on large lowercase typography, silhouette - style logos, and monochromatic font colors . Microsoft continued this style of design with the 2010 release of Windows Phone 7, which built on the flat design elements introduced with the Zune . The design was dominated by large and bright shapes accompanied by sans - serif typography, flat images, and a menu with a grid - like pattern . Because of the success of the Windows Phone 7 design, Microsoft released the Windows 8 operating system based on Metro, with the same flat design elements . Use of bold colours, simple typography, long shadow and ghost buttons are some of the crucial elements of flat web design . Again, the design is dominated by grid shapes, sharp edges, bright colours, and clean typography . Microsoft has since moved its current products to the Metro design language, including the Xbox 360, Microsoft Office, and the Microsoft website . </P> <P> In 2013, Apple released iOS 7 featuring flat UI design elements, moving away from skeuomorphic design . </P> <P> In 2014, Google released Material Design to developers to incorporate into their design language for Android and Chrome OS apps . Material Design has been called flat design, although it includes some elements of skeuomorphism like drop shadows . </P> <P> Also in 2014, Apple also updated their macOS with a flat UI design that was similar to their iOS counterpart on OS X Yosemite . </P>

Modern ux design accelerated and nurtured by microsoft flat design