Inside M3 Expressive
Go behind the scenes with product, research, and design.
Design Notes is a podcast by Liam Spradlin about creative work and what it teaches us. This very special episode digs into the latest evolution of Google’s design system: Material 3 Expressive.
Liam talks with Material Design’s Android Product Manager Aneesha Kommineni, UX Researcher Michael Gilbert, and Creative Director Andy Stewart about the team’s latest emotion-driven UX update. They reveal how this system is grounded in user research and how it offers both developers and users more flexibility. The group also chats about making design more than objective, connecting to users' emotional landscapes, and driving business outcomes — all while considering tooling, usability, accessibility, and more.
This episode explores…
How flexibility is a defining principle of M3 Expressive…
“Expressive can mean quiet. And it can also mean loud... For example, loaders and spinners: You can take the basic one… Or you can go expressive and it has more of the wiggle shape. And that gives you a choice.”
– Andy Stewart, Material Design Creative Director
The earliest expressive research…
“It was solidifying that concept of expressive design as design that inspires an emotional response that's aligned with a particular pattern of use. So it’s expression as usability, it’s expression as accessibility, and ultimately it’s expression as beauty — for a purpose.”
– Michael Gilbert, Material Design UX Researcher
The creative process…
“We don't really do the classic design sprint that you might think that Google does. It's literally like, go draw and come and talk about it at the end of the day and get excited about it.”
– Andy Stewart, Material Design Creative Director
What happens next…
“I'm actually right now writing the strategy and vision for where we go next. That's what I spend almost every day now on… We do want feedback from all Android developers, not just Google developers. I'm going to be looking at that feedback and our team will be too, because, you know, we’re trying to offer more flexibility. We're trying to meet developer demands better, but, like Andy said before, we're never finished.”
– Aneesha Kommineni, Material Design for Android Product Manager