Google Prematurely Leaks Details Of 'Material 3 Expressive', Its Android UI Design Overhaul
The software company expressed its desire to resonate with users on an "emotional level" through its visual design and move past the homogenous and generic look which they deemed to be "boring".
Google unintentionally revealed 'Material 3 Expressive', its latest major design system overhaul for the user interface of its Android operating system, on Tuesday.
This was done through a now-deleted blog post on their website, whose data was captured by the Wayback Machine internet archive, according to 9to5 Google, which saved pictures of the new UI design system from the blog that the archive couldn't.
The software company expressed its desire to resonate with users on an "emotional level" through its visual design and move past the homogenous and generic look which they deemed to be "boring".
Google said that their latest UI's design philosophy will focus on "expressive design", which it defined as "design with a soul" in its blog post.
The product is set to be open source, which may lead to other manufacturers altering the design choices in the UI, Ars Technica noted, stating that the complete experience may only be guaranteed to users of Google's Pixel smartphones.
The new overhaul is also expected to expedite user functions, as the UI elements are designated to be identified four times faster.
One of the examples the blog used was changing the placement and colour of the "send" button in their 'Gmail' application for composing and sending e-mails. This made it easier for users to spot the button four times faster.
The search engine firm said that it conducted research for up to three years and this was their most heavily researched UI to date. These methods included eye tracking, where it monitored the areas which users paid attention to; using surveys and focus groups to study emotional responses to different designs; experiments to collect sentiments and preferences; and finally, usability to see how quickly participants could understand and use an interface.
The company assigned emotional benchmarks such as 'playful', 'energetic', 'creative', 'friendly', and 'positive' to compare designs.
The UI's open source nature and design tools makes it open to user experimentation, but Google cautioned its users to focus on clarity and usability as it said that a strong minority of users that tested it preferred calmer and more reserved designs.
