Some have said that the Material Design guidelines introduced by Google last year for app and software developers is one of the best-looking ones out there, not to mention that it gives the best user experience as well. They also introduced the Material Design Awards to recognize those that have been able to apply this excellently to their respective apps. For this year, the recipients include productivity service Asana, p2p accommodations marketplace AirBnB, and three other apps that embodied the spirit of the design.
Asana received the Brand Infusion award from Google since they were able to make apply Material Design into the productivity app that does not overwhelm the user despite its many elements. It was also able to preserve its visual identity as its own brand through “subtle gradients” and “casually paced user communication”. Meanwhile, the app Motivate Me! by TheFabulous won the Charming Engagement citation. The goal-setting app combines its very own illustration style with that of the elements from Material Design.
The Kitchen Stories app receives the Expressive Layouts citation for being able to bring “effective, easy-to-scan layouts” for the recipes that they feature on their app. The way they laid it out is so you won’t need to touch the screen while you’re actually cooking in the kitchen to avoid smudges and all. The AirBnB app has also received an award for Focused Efficiency because their app is designed to not waste users’ time and focus on the whole browsing and booking process , without sacrificing the design and beauty of all available properties that are featured in the app.
Another awardee is the C Channel for Creative Navigation, and it’s an app available in Japanese and Thai language. All of these apps can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store.
SOURCE: Google
