Following the release of the goal management sample app 'Achieve' by Google Design, fierce criticism has been mounting within the design community. Google Design unveiled Achieve's interactions via X and Instagram on August 11. When a task is completed, high-contrast graphics and animations appear instead of the standard Material Ripple effect. The design is intended to express the experience of celebrating small achievements.
The issue was the reaction to the overall quality of the screen rather than the animation. Comments such as “I want to understand Google’s design vision” and “The Add button is too small” were posted on the official Instagram. Criticism also followed regarding the UI’s proportions and visual hierarchy. John Gruber of Daring Fireball strongly criticized the screen ratios and aesthetic quality, questioning the fact that this work was released on Google’s official design account.
This case also led to a controversy surrounding Material 3 Expressive. Google describes Material 3 Expressive as a design system built on 46 studies and over 18,000 participants. Its approach is to actively use color, shape, size, and motion to find important UI elements faster and evoke emotional responses. At the same time, Google emphasizes in its official guidelines the principle that visual decoration should not take precedence over functionality.
However, Achieve is not an actual Google service that has been released, but a sample app designed to demonstrate Material's presentation style. This reaction is less a user evaluation of Material 3 Expressive as a whole and more a debate surrounding the results that a single demo applying the new design language to an extreme can produce.
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