"On May 13, 2025 Google unveiled "Material 3 Expressive" (M3E), a refresh to its Material Design (MD) design system built on top of the last big update, Material 3 (M3). Chock full of big buttons, stylised text, and passionate colour, M3E is, at first glance, an update primarily championing experimentation with form, colour and shape, a new, artistic approach to product design."
"M3E is at its core speaking to the problems that a large plurality of users, particularly older age groups, have experienced to varying degrees with the dominant UI design paradigm of the last decade or so - 'flat' UI design. These overly-simplified designs showed a lack of clear interaction signifiers, leading to click uncertainty, and barriers to quick scanning. Digging into the guidelines, the research, and the changes Google has pushed thus far,"
Material 3 Expressive (M3E) updates Material Design with larger buttons, stylized typography, and bolder color to encourage experimentation in form and aesthetics. The update emphasizes clearer interaction signifiers to combat the shortcomings of flat UI, including click uncertainty and poor scannability, particularly affecting older users. The MD team used accumulated UX research and Google's own usability studies to inform changes that restore visual affordances and reduce ambiguity. The approach revives older lessons about expressive, legible controls and balances artistic form with functional clarity. The result aims to make interfaces more discoverable, scannable, and accessible.
Read at Medium
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