Material Design: Good Design Implemented Badly

So i’m a big fan of android development. I mean, it was the first platform i experienced and all i can say is — i fell in love with it from the first sight.

When material design was introduced, it was like android is ready to take on its competitors with a sledge harmer. I mean, think of the research and experiments that were carried out before the team at google could finally say, “we think we’ve found something worth bragging about”.

The Bad Innovator

There’s a secret every innovative person must know, and that is:

A good invention is what you come up with for others to use, a better invention is what you come up with for others to build upon.

Here lies the mistake in the implementation of material design.

After it was introduced, google started giving recognition to developers using the design in their development, credits and even giving awards to best implementations. I mean, at a short run, this sounds like a great idea.

First, the android ecosystem itself will become more user friendly across all apps because of the generalized experience across board. Second, the more the design gain more popularity, the more popularity and attraction the ecosystem gets.

I as a person, i’m a fan of always thinking about tomorrow. One of the reasons why Steve will always be at the top of my favorite innovators is becuase he laid foundations all his life for others to be able to build upon.

Generalizing the interface of android applications in a sense, eradicates the need for innovation from the end of developers, every app in the ecosystem ends up with action bar, coordinator layout etc. A general feel across all apps on my phone with a variance of color will only entice for a while before I get bored.

Good Innovator

A better implementation of the design language should have been minimal enough for others to innovate upon, give room for developers to thinking outside the box.

I would have preferred if the language does not take 60% of the device real estate (after adding the coordinator layout, with tab layout, action bar, and worst of all, fab button) and only 40% remaining for the developers to put their content.

In general, I think this is a lesson for all innovators out there. If you develop something good, don’t just develop for use, build a foundation for others.