I'm making an app and I'm not sure whether to follow Google's material design or stick to a completely custom look and feel.
I can find pros and cons in each approach:
| Material design |
Custom |
Pros - Consistent look and feel across your apps
- You don't have to reinvent the wheel in terms of your design
- Google is the designer and Google made the mistakes so you don't have to
- Great documentation on how to use material design and there are plenty of resources out there too
|
Pros - Custom (unique) look and feel - you are the designer of the components and you can extend them as much as you would like
- Has no association with any major brand or company and that can make the consumer trust your app more
|
Cons - Associated with one of the most powerful - and controversial for many - company in the world: Google. This can equate to a feeling of distrust in the consumer of the app. When we think of privacy, Google is not the first word that comes to mind.
- Google is quite political and left-leaning and associates itself with groups such as black lives matter which many people are not particularly fond of. This means conservative-leaning users may not want to use your app.
- Has a very stock Android feel - which can make the app look rushed and cheap
|
Cons - No guidelines or components are handed to you - this can be a negative for some people who are only beginning in UX/UI design
- May not look as good and intuitive as Google's Material Design
|
Weighing the pros and cons of each one - which solution would you use if you were to create an app?
