Why Liquid Glass Matters for the Future of Design

Liquid Glass and the new depth of design

Flat design has defined the look of digital products for more than a decade. It brought clarity, efficiency, and consistency across platforms. Yet with time, static surfaces also began to feel limited. They delivered information effectively but lacked vitality.

Apple’s introduction of Liquid Glass changes that landscape. It is not simply a stylistic refresh. It is a new material that brings depth, translucency, and motion into everyday interfaces. Rather than leaving elements sitting flat on the screen, Liquid Glass refracts light, adapts to content, and creates the impression of surfaces that live and breathe.

After working with Liquid Glass in the developer beta over several months, the shift became clear. Interfaces that once felt modern now appeared static and dated. Liquid Glass makes products feel immersive in a way that flat layers cannot.

This article explores what Liquid Glass is, why it matters, how it was integrated in a real case with ImgAI, and what lessons product designers can take from this transition.

What Liquid Glass is

Liquid Glass is Apple’s most recent addition to the family of design materials. According to Apple’s newsroom, it represents a step toward more elegant and immersive software surfaces. It simulates the qualities of real glass: reflection, refraction, translucency, and motion. At the same time it adapts dynamically to background content, lighting, and user interaction.

The Human Interface Guidelines describe Liquid Glass as a material that should be used thoughtfully. It can elevate an interface but also risks reducing clarity if applied carelessly. Designers are advised to pay close attention to contrast, hierarchy, and readability. Liquid Glass is not meant to dominate. It is meant to support content while adding a sense of vitality.

In practice, Liquid Glass is most often seen in toolbars, navigation bars, modals, and widgets. Each instance feels connected to its environment. A navigation bar changes subtly as the background scrolls. A modal sheet shows traces of the wallpaper or image beneath it. These interactions are subtle, but they make the interface feel more real.

Why Liquid Glass matters

Flat design was a correction to skeuomorphism. It stripped away textures and decorations that no longer felt necessary. It gave products a clean and modern look. Yet flat design also created a sense of separation. Surfaces no longer interacted with one another. Interfaces became predictable and in some cases uninspiring.

Liquid Glass addresses this gap. It introduces depth and atmosphere without returning to heavy decoration. It builds on the lessons of minimalism while restoring a sense of physicality.

Three qualities stand out.

First, Liquid Glass makes motion expressive. As a user scrolls, surfaces adapt rather than remain static. This responsiveness builds a feeling of connection between action and environment.

Second, color and atmosphere feel alive. Background images and wallpapers influence translucent panels. Light and dark modes create subtle variations. The result is an interface that breathes with its context.

Third, hierarchy becomes clearer. Transparent layers naturally guide attention toward the most important content. Instead of heavy borders or drop shadows, Liquid Glass uses translucency to establish focus.

For designers, these qualities represent a shift in mindset. Interfaces are no longer drawings on a flat surface. They are environments with depth and behavior.

A real case is ImgAI

The most valuable lessons often come from applying new materials to real products. Liquid Glass was integrated into ImgAI, an AI photo generation tool. The aim was to explore whether this material could improve both usability and user retention.

The integration began with the image preview flow. Previously, controls sat on opaque panels above the generated images. They were functional but disconnected from the content beneath. Replacing these with Liquid Glass components allowed the background image to influence the controls. Buttons and sliders felt integrated with the preview rather than placed on top of it.

The effect on user experience was significant. Retention in this flow nearly doubled. Users spent more time experimenting with generated images and exploring variations. Task completion times also improved slightly, as controls became easier to discover and interact with.

Most telling was the qualitative feedback. Testers described the interface as more premium and magical. They said it felt alive. They noted that the design encouraged exploration rather than simply task completion. These reactions confirmed that Liquid Glass was not just aesthetic polish. It changed how people felt while using the product.

Starting with clarity

The first priority in applying Liquid Glass was clarity. Translucency can easily compromise readability if type, icons, or controls are not adapted carefully.

Typography was adjusted to maintain contrast against dynamic backgrounds. Icons were refined for weight and scale. Color palettes were revisited to ensure buttons stood out clearly in both light and dark contexts. Apple’s guidance on materials emphasizes that translucency should never undermine clarity. These adjustments ensured that Liquid Glass added vitality without creating confusion.

Clarity also meant choosing where to apply the material. Instead of covering the entire interface, it was reserved for moments of high emotional impact such as previews and modals. Secondary screens remained simple and flat, preserving performance and reducing distraction. This selective use made Liquid Glass feel intentional rather than excessive.

Building for consistency

Consistency was the next challenge. Without rules, Liquid Glass can quickly feel chaotic.

To address this, a component library was created in Figma. Buttons, sliders, navigation bars, and modals were defined with consistent translucency, layering, and motion. This library ensured that every part of the interface felt like it belonged to the same family.

Motion was also standardized. Components appeared and disappeared in predictable ways. Surfaces adapted consistently to scrolling. This consistency made the interface feel cohesive and reduced cognitive load for users.

Designing for speed and delight

An unexpected outcome of Liquid Glass was improved speed. Users moved through tasks more quickly not because the code was faster but because the interface felt smoother and more connected. The psychological effect of responsive surfaces made interactions feel effortless.

At the same time, Liquid Glass delivered delight. Users did not just complete actions. They enjoyed the process. They described the experience as more immersive. Delight is not easy to measure, but it is often the strongest driver of retention.

Collaboration across teams

Integrating Liquid Glass required close collaboration across teams. Engineers tested performance and optimized rendering to ensure smooth results on different devices. Product managers identified flows where the material could make the greatest impact. QA flagged cases where contrast or readability fell short.

This collaboration was fueled by shared curiosity. Everyone wanted to understand what this new material could achieve. Prototypes were built quickly. Feedback was gathered often. Adjustments were made continuously. The process itself mirrored the qualities of Liquid Glass: adaptive, responsive, and alive.

The human side of new materials

Liquid Glass is not just a visual effect. It influences how people trust and perceive a product.

If translucency reduces readability, trust is lost. If rendering feels slow, the product feels unpolished. If motion is inconsistent, the design feels careless. Attention to these details is essential.

User testing was crucial. Feedback sessions revealed where Liquid Glass enhanced experiences and where it created distraction. Iterations were made based on real use, not just visual preference. Over time, the material became invisible in the best sense. Users stopped noticing it directly. They simply felt more comfortable and engaged.

Measuring the impact

The success of Liquid Glass can be measured both quantitatively and qualitatively.

In the ImgAI integration, retention doubled in the preview flow. Task completion times improved. Subjective delight increased. These outcomes confirmed that Liquid Glass improved both usability and emotional connection.

Team adoption was another measure. Designers trusted the new components. Engineers trusted the performance. Product managers trusted the results. This shared confidence allowed the material to scale within the product.

Scaling beyond a single product

Once proven effective in one context, Liquid Glass began to scale. The principles applied in ImgAI carried over to other design problems. Clarity first. Consistency always. Delight where it matters most.

Scaling did not mean applying Liquid Glass everywhere. It meant applying it thoughtfully, documenting guidelines, and preparing systems to adapt as the material evolves.

Reflections

Working with Liquid Glass reinforced a familiar lesson. New materials are not about decoration. They are about shaping how people feel in digital environments.

Flat design gave us clarity but sometimes at the expense of emotion. Liquid Glass restores emotion without abandoning simplicity. It blends minimalism with depth, creating surfaces that feel natural and alive.

For product designers, this shift is not only technical. It is cultural. It changes expectations for what modern software should feel like. It challenges us to think of interfaces as environments rather than static layouts. It demands more care with hierarchy, readability, and performance.

Looking forward

Liquid Glass is still new, yet it already feels inevitable. Flat surfaces will not disappear, but without adaptive materials they will increasingly feel dated.

For designers, the opportunity is to experiment responsibly. Prototype with Liquid Glass. Test with real users. Learn where it enhances and where it distracts. Document principles so teams can apply it consistently.

The future of design will not be entirely flat or entirely textured. It will be adaptive, responsive, and alive. Liquid Glass is the first clear step toward that future.