Liquid Glass
Posted on Jun 22 - 2025
Captivating design, but balance is key

In the digital age, the design of technological products is often seen as the main element of appeal, an attractive interface seems synonymous with quality.

In reality, as some UX/UI developers argue, “many users don’t care about design, they just want to complete their tasks with minimal effort.”

Modern consumers certainly appreciate sophisticated aesthetics, but at the same time they demand simple and smooth experiences. Thinking of design as mere decoration is misleading, behind the attention to visual appearance, there must always be a desire to make the product intuitive and easy to use.

 

 

Index

Table of contents

 

 

The forgotten balance

In many projects, unfortunately, aesthetic appearance is prioritized over practicality. A website or app may be awarded for its innovative look, but if the content is confusing or the commands are hidden, the user gets lost. Thinking of UX as an aesthetic addition is a common mistake.

Graphics and functionality must go hand in hand, a beautiful interface makes a good first impression, but if buttons are too small, contrast is low, or animations are distracting, even inexperienced users will give up.

For example, many e-commerce sites with appealing homepages fail at the final checkout because the process is long and unclear. A poorly designed checkout, with too many confirmation steps or bulky forms, drives most users away. Similarly, apps rich in special effects, too many colors, exaggerated micro-animations, overdesign, can slow loading times and confuse visual hierarchy.

Essentially, design should serve function, not replace it.
When form outweighs substance, the user experience suffers.

 

 

Design as foundation

The assumption that design is the essential key to how something works is a concept deeply rooted in the history and theory of design. Traditionally, the history of design is the study of designed objects in their historical and stylistic context, encompassing social, cultural, economic, political, technical, and aesthetic aspects.

This includes a wide range of artifacts, from architecture to fashion, from craftsmanship to industrial design. Design theorists, drawing on historical techniques, reinterpret them to create more sophisticated approaches.

The importance of looking to the past to shape the future is a core principle for designers. Designers do not create in a vacuum, they rely on the legacy and achievements of their predecessors. Studying the past allows designers to become “literate in the language of design”, understanding the fundamental principles of good design and construction, regardless of style.

The discipline of design has evolved significantly.

Initially focused on the “heroic” figure of the designer, it has gradually shifted toward the study of design processes and effects and acts of production and consumption. Globalization has further broadened this perspective to include not only material products but also “theories, policies, social programs, opinions, and organizational systems” as design artifacts.

This means design is now understood as a feature that provides humans with “a history of ideas about how to live and interact with one another”. This shift in understanding shows that design is no longer just about creating aesthetically pleasing objects, but about shaping experiences, systems, and human interactions. The assumption that design is essential for functionality still holds, but its scope has drastically expanded beyond mere aesthetics.

The imperative of modern design is to elevate the human experience in the built environment. Modern production techniques have the potential to extend this elevated experience to more people, making “beauty a human right, not a privilege reserved only for the wealthy.”

 

 

Liquid Glass

WWDC 2025, Apple recently introduced a new design language called Liquid Glass, described as a translucent material that combines the optical properties of glass with fluidity.

It’s an update spanning iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and other Apple OSes, aiming to unify the experience across platforms. The system introduces transparency and reflections, “glass-like” edges on interface elements, dynamic blurs that react to movement, and multi-layered icons and widgets with mirror-like effects.

Practically speaking, every shortcut or toolbar looks like a floating shard of liquid glass above the content.

Liquid Glass certainly offers a modern and unified look. The smooth animations and glass overlays create a magical, immersive atmosphere, as seen in early demos. Some note that the new icons and buttons “look beautiful” and that the glassy effect over homescreen backgrounds (which blurs and stretches icons underneath) is striking. The design is meant to sharpen content focus, for example, tab bars automatically shrink on scroll to leave more room for information.

Apple promises that Liquid Glass retains the familiarity of iOS/macOS environments (background-based color tones, adaptive fonts) while giving new vitality to screens.

However, shadows remain.

Too much transparency can compromise readability, some notifications and texts, seen against light backgrounds, are hard to read. Early issues include squinting at song names in Apple Music or lock screen notifications.

In some cases, Liquid Glass overlays are “too transparent”, making text nearly invisible in sunlight. Some fear the scenic effect may distract from the main content.

Despite this, the goals of this new aesthetic are numerous and ambitious. Specifically, Apple aims to:

Harmonized design language

The goal is to create a consistent, adaptive, and expressive design language across devices, screen sizes, and input methods, ensuring platform familiarity while tailoring each experience to the specific device.

Reshape the interface-content relationship

The UI floats above content, providing structure and clarity without distracting, supporting interaction when needed and staying subtle otherwise.

Cohesion at scale

A systematic approach where all elements are considered in relation to the whole, from the smallest control to the largest surface.

Unified geometry and shapes

Curvature, size, and proportion align with hardware frames, creating a unified rhythm between physical device and on-screen interface. A “silent geometry” is employed through concentricity, where radious and margins align around a shared center.

Reflecting relationships between surfaces

The design helps to show how surfaces appear and remain connected to their origin, for example, an Action Sheet that emerges directly from the action that triggered it.

Elevate navigation controls

Navigation controls are elevated, creating greater separation from content and reinforcing interactivity. The removal of unnecessary backgrounds or borders from custom bars is encouraged.

Visual effects for content prioritization

Elements using Liquid Glass require clear separation from content to maintain readability. Scroll-edge effects (subtle blurs) replace rigid dividers, and sidebars are inset with Liquid Glass, allowing content to flow behind them for a more immersive experience.

Continuity across devices

The continuity concept ensures users can switch devices or resize windows seamlessly, simplifying design processes since the app’s anatomy only needs to be designed once, with scalable components and consistent behaviors.

In essence, it’s a bold design, sleek and unified across all Apple devices, featuring striking transparency and reflections that leverage the graphical potential of new chips and displays, but not without risks. Issues may include overly reduced readability (low-contrast text on transparent glass), visual distraction, a steeper learning curve for less experienced users, and perhaps some unflattering comparisons to Windows Vista’s Aero. 😂

In terms of interface consistency, Apple aims for a “universal” look, but it remains to be seen whether this stylistic choice will truly improve the user experience or make it more confusing.

On one hand, Liquid Glass unifies aesthetics, on the other, it introduces a visually “heavy” vocabulary that abruptly shifts a system accustomed to restraint.

 

 

Design as a communication tool

Good design isn’t a stylistic exercise for its own sake, it’s a language meant to speak to the user. Every interface element should immediately suggest its function.

For example, a button should look clickable, subtle shadow, prominent placement; a slider should invite scrolling, a search field should be instantly recognizable. As UI/UX principles teach, form follows function, digital controls must behave predictably and consistently so that users can learn to use them almost unconsciously.

To achieve this, clear visual hierarchy and accessibility must be maintained. The Interaction Design Foundation reminds us that an interface should feel invisible, meaning users shouldn’t fixate on the design but on the task. This doesn’t mean design should be plain or careless, but functional and intuitive enough that users appreciate it without realizing. This means using appropriate color contrast, clear labels, and visible indicators (affordances) for buttons and menus.

Designers should ask themselves: “Does this element clearly communicate its purpose?”
If the answer is no, it should be simplified.

 

 

Aesthetics and functionality

The main takeaway is that beauty and usability must go hand in hand. The sleekest design shouldn’t hinder product usability. Truly effective UX arises from synergy between beauty and functionality, not one outweighing the other.

In practice, every aesthetic element must serve a clear purpose, colors or animations are not added “just because they’re nice”, but because they improve interface clarity or provide feedback.

Some best practices include:

Continuous usability testing

Even if the interface looks beautiful, it must be tested for flow with real users. What seems logical to the designer may confuse the general public.

Mobile-first adaptability and simplicity

Designing for small screens first helps avoid overloading the view; accommodate the usage style (touch, swipe, voice, etc.). Today, most web traffic is mobile, every app must remain useful even in low-connectivity or variable lighting conditions.

Visual consistency

Color palettes, fonts, and navigation styles must be coherent with the brand and across different screens to orient users like in a familiar habitat. A polished design shouldn’t contradict the sense of familiarity.

Relying on established guidelines

Systems like Material (Google) or Human Interface Guidelines (Apple) exist to avoid unbalanced choices; following them helps maintain a healthy balance between visual impact and functional clarity.

In short, design as communication requires a storytelling approach, the designer must speak to the user through colors, shapes, and animations, providing implicit cues on how to act. When scenic effects are overdone or usability fundamentals are overlooked, users notice immediately.

 

 

Towards a balanced design in the future

The case of Apple and Liquid Glass shows that leading companies continue to push aesthetic boundaries, but must also deal with user reactions. The evolution of software design involves smart integration of hardware and UI, as Apple highlights, but also focuses on simplicity and accessibility.

The ideal future is a user-centered design, where stylistic innovation coexists with strict usability standards.

Emerging technologies (augmented reality, artificial intelligence, voice or gesture-based interfaces) impose a new pragmatism, the interface must become increasingly invisible, adaptive, and multisensory.

In this scenario, “beauty” must further support function, beauty and utility together will hold attention without sacrificing effectiveness. For designers and developers, the challenge is clear: to experiment with new styles and materials without ever forgetting that design is, above all, communication and ease of use.

Only then will the software of tomorrow truly be “delightful,” as Apple envisions it, without turning into a sterile style exercise.