Reflecting on Our Experience with “Liquid Glass” Effects: Why Such UI Designs Are Not Recommended
In the rapidly evolving world of Web Design, innovative visual effects often capture the imagination—sometimes leading to practice-changing trends. Back in 2016, our team at Akveo embarked on an ambitious project inspired by the sleek aesthetics of Iron Man’s user interface. We developed Blur Admin, an open-source dashboard template characterized by prominent background blur effects reminiscent of Apple’s “Liquid Glass” design language, years before the technology gained broader recognition.
Our goal was to create a futuristic, immersive user interface by leveraging heavy background blurring techniques. Once we shared this project on Reddit, it quickly gained popularity, featured on Product Hunt, and garnered significant attention from developers eager to adopt these visual styles.
However, as we integrated Blur Admin into real-world applications, we encountered a series of insurmountable challenges related to usability, accessibility, and performance. These issues ultimately led us to recommend against adopting such designs in production environments. Below, we detail the key concerns and lessons learned from our experience.
Usability and Accessibility Challenges
1. Legibility of Text and UI Elements
Heavy background blur complicates text readability, especially when backgrounds include complex gradients or images. This unpredictability in contrast not only hampers user experience but also violates accessibility standards such as WCAG, which mandate sufficient contrast for readability. For instance, placeholder texts or button labels often became indistinct, frustrating users and hindering navigation.
2. Loss of Visual Cues and Focus
Blur effects tend to obscure borders, focus outlines, and other visual cues essential for user orientation—particularly for keyboard navigation and assistive technology users. This diminishes usability for users with cognitive or visual impairments, making the interface less inclusive.
3. Diminished Context and User Orientation
Blurred backgrounds can diminish contextual awareness, making it harder for users to orient themselves within the interface. This is especially problematic in dashboards and data-heavy applications where quick context recognition is vital.
Motion and Transition Concerns
Implementing animated blur transitions introduces motion sensitivity issues. Such effects can lead to:
- Increased eye strain and dizziness
- Reduced performance on less powerful devices
- A disorienting experience for sensitive users, potentially triggering motion sickness
Implementation and Performance Limitations
Beyond design considerations, technical hurdles significantly impacted our ability to implement “liquid glass” effects smoothly:
- Browser Compatibility: Not all browsers support CSS properties
