Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
Material Design is a design language created by Google to encourage developers to implement cohesive and attractive UIs. Material design is based on several guiding principles, as well as specific building blocks called material design components.
This UI approach is used in most Google apps and devices, but can also be found in many other Android apps and websites.
If you’re an Android developer, having at least an understanding of Material Design can go a long way in giving your app a professional touch that resonates with users. Fortunately, it is now easier than ever to implement the elements of material design.
In general, everything in a Material Design application must represent physical “materials” and relationships. Elements should be seen as they are in the body. Usually, this is a flat card and paper. These “materials” should use shadows and movements as the user expects.
Pop-up windows have shades. This is also used to communicate hierarchy (allowing you to see what’s “above” you at a glance).
This is a “paper draft”.
Animation should create natural movement using simple in-and-out and other techniques. In fact, a lot of importance is placed on movement. Overall, the user should feel like the interface is static and moving. around them Not vice versa. Movement can again convey importance, meaning and order.
Material design is big and bold: it often uses contrasting block colors. Everything should be easy to follow, which means bold headings and large, touch-friendly buttons. Google uses a lot of robot fonts, but this is absolutely the rule!
Be “bold, graphic, and intentional.”
Material design is big and bold.
Material design is minimal. Every element on the screen should serve a specific purpose, which means no over-designed backgroups. These only serve to confuse the user and create visual clutter.
Finally, developers should use common Material Design elements such as floating action buttons (FAB) and “cards”. These help users navigate faster.
Material Design 2
A few years ago, Google chose to build on the foundation laid by Material Design. He did this by bringing about an amendment to the guidelines. This new iteration has been dubbed “Material Design 2” by most of the internet. It was not universally applauded!
One reason for this move was that in the early days of material design, there were no ready-made material design classes for designers to turn to. This resulted in many different Google suggestions with mixed results.
Moreover, Material Design was initially too limited for its implementation on the Android platform. The purpose of this “revamp” was to make Material Design more “platform agnostic”. Sharp-eyed users have already started seeing the changes popping up on Google products.
The point of MD2 was never to introduce new “rules” or any changes in direction. However, developers have noticed an increase in the use of rounded corners, white space, and Google Sans. Of course, this is what caused the controversy!
Is Material Design a Power for Good?
Before you start implementing Material Design elements and themes in your own apps, you might wonder if this is a good idea.
As always, there are arguments for and against.
Why material design is a good thing
Material Design promotes intelligent design trends and decisions to provide a more frictionless experience on mobile apps and the web. It also provides a useful framework for developers who do not have their own design theory.
This creates a sense of a seamless flow between complementary services.
Android users especially benefit from this consistent visual language. Especially when jumping between apps to share files and chat with friends. Instead of the experience of going from one UI to something completely different when selecting a photo; This instead creates a sense of a seamless flow between complementary services.
More importantly: Material Design stops terrible design decisions. Like the ugly use of skeuomorphism (icons designed as 3D representations of their physical counterparts – think tiny phone and camera icons), oversaturated colors and the old “holo” look of Android’s past. Anyone remember this:
I really miss Holo UI…
Thanks to the (now consistent) Material Design elements available to developers, users can rely on finding specific navigation elements in a generally consistent location. These include floating action buttons in the bottom right, and hamburger menus in the top left. That sure will spend hours learning each new pose.
The area of Material Design applications also shines on assets and fast loading thanks to its reliance on colors and flat images.
The dark side of material design
While these aspects of Material Design improve the user experience on most Androids, there are downsides to Google’s singular look.
Material Design promotes uniformity of applications.
Material Design promotes uniformity of apps and services across the Android ecosystem and the web. This reduces the unique impact of company branding and prevents apps from standing out.
Google goes some way to combating this with “Material Design” tools. These apply global changes when you adjust specific aspects of your UI, such as color and font. However, this is still limited in scope and will ultimately result in the difference that Google is designing a high-contrast pedal based on the card.
And due to the high number of apps on both Android and iOS, this can mean a lot more work for developers. That said, many Google-themed apps still end up on the App Store.
And this harms the user. Finding an app with a really unique interface or amazing animations can be a great experience. Google says it provides “guidelines, not instructions,” and many have interpreted the change in Material Design 2 that way. But there’s no denying that Material Design applications have a certain “look” and prescribed behavior.
There is no accounting for taste
All of this applies doubly if you. They don’t like material design.. Although good design follows many indisputable rules, it is so concrete.
I’m not a big fan of material design. I don’t particularly like Google’s use of color in some cases (especially the new Gmail icon!). Similarly, I get Google Calendar on Android. But Intelligible. And yes, I like my technology to feel “high tech”. No accounting for taste, eh?
Joe Hindi / Android Authority
However, the developers who chose to go with Material Design are very successful. Resist The advice is often seen as out of touch and even out of date.
Your job as a developer is to find the right balance. To employ elements of material design and material design at the right time, while still finding your own style. To some extent, that depends on the type of app you’re creating. This is much less of an issue for game developers, for example.
How to apply the elements of material design
So, how do you go about creating an app that conforms to the Material Design language and does what users expect?
Adam Sinicki / Android Authority
Then it’s important to consider Google’s guidelines and how to interpret them. There are many views to make this easy and it’s worth finding it. Fragments, for example, are great for keeping the user in one place. Similarly, Cardview and RecyclerView are “Material Design-no” in nature. Fragments are views that can contain entire layouts and come with their own associated Java code. Fragments work as their own mini-apps within your main activity, allowing you to bring more information to the user.
watch out: How to use Fragments for a powerful and dynamic UI in your Android app
Android Studio 4.0 previously brought us the Motion Editor, which makes it much easier to design motion layouts using motion effectively. Jetpack Compose is also meant to simplify the creation of new UIs. Although, as before, Google has a habit of throwing things around a bit. too many Our way. Start with your design, and work backwards to figure out what you need to learn.
Spend some time exploring Google’s other apps. Ask the intent behind each design decision (connect, don’t embellish!). For “paper summary” purposes.
And if all else fails: hire a designer!