Google has leaked details for its own new Material 3 Expressive design language.
The software giant will hold its next big Google I/O 2025 event later this month, where a bold new Material 3 Expressive UI is going to be unveiled on top of Android 16.
However, while Google hasn’t been averse to issuing a few tips on its new design language, it probably didn’t intend to go quite as far as it just did.
Google’s big Material 3 Expressive leak
Google appears to have posted a blog post detailing its Material 3 Expressive UI in error. We know this was a mistake, because it swiftly pulled the post.
Of course, nothing escapes the notice of the internet, and a version of the blog post has been preserved for our leisurely perusal. 9to5Google also managed to grab the images that accompanied this initial post (see below).
The post goes into the extensive research behind Google’s Material 3 Expressive UI, which apparently started with an intern’s simple inquiry back in 2022:
“Why were all these apps looking so similar? So boring? Wasn’t there room to dial up the feeling?”.
Google subsequently iterated its way to Material 3 Expressive, utilising 46 separate research studies and more than 18,000 participants, using such measures as eye tracking, experiments, and good old fashioned focus groups.
Google via 9to5Google
What to expect from Material 3 Expressive
Google calls the resulting system “both beautiful and highly usable”, and it’s built around the common-sense aim of “Making key actions stand out, and grouping like elements together.”
Grasping that point about feeling, Google opted to “exceed existing standards for tap target size, colour contrast, and other important aspects that can make interfaces easier to use for all people”.
One core component is a new floating toolbar at the bottom of Google apps, which appears to sit on top of the rest of the app rather than underneath it. Again, it seems to be in service of clearly highlighting the key UI element.
Another example of Material 3 Expressive in action is the new Gmail app, which now has a significantly larger and more prominent Send button, which is now situated right above the keyboard.
Essentially, Google appears to have created its latest UI design language through a painstaking process of asking people how they feel about it. It sounds shockingly simple, but the results promise to be intriguing.
