Systems Over Surfaces

In 2025 we need to start building systems for content consumption and input instead of focusing only on apps, websites, SEO and other surface level tactics. Too many people get caught up in trying to learn how to design liquid glass or chat UI design patterns, which drives me mad. Unless you are working for Apple designing their UI, there is no need for you to learn how to design glass. You would not use it for anything of your own. You will use their glass UI when you have to, but otherwise your designs should reflect your brand's CI, not Apple's visual language.

The same applies to chat UI patterns. These exist for the platforms that use them, so unless you are designing for those platforms there is little point in spending time creating patterns like this. These are surface decisions. Your focus should be on your client's needs, on how they are going to distribute information and instruction for consumption, and on how you will get engagement through input and interaction. That means building systems that work across multiple contexts and not being distracted by trends that exist only at the surface.

Learning from others is valuable, but the goal should be to centralise all of your content so it is consistent and avoids unnecessary repetition. Once the content foundation is in place, you need a way to capture input, whether that comes through text, voice, gestures or interactions that result in a response, action and reaction. This is where systems thinking pays off because a strong system can adapt to many different surfaces without being redesigned each time.

When we talk about content consumption in this context, we are not talking about endlessly scrolling through a feed on Instagram or TikTok. We are talking about business and visibility. Every company should have a central resource where its content can be stored and distributed no matter how or where it is consumed. That might be on mobile, on desktop websites, inside apps, through Google search or via ChatGPT. It might be read or listened to, presented in words or in visuals. It might need a rich interface, or it might not need one at all. Whatever the format, it needs to be consistent, accessible, and able to adapt to different environments without losing clarity or impact.

Once you have addressed how content will be consumed, you must think about how people will interact with it. What will the input look like, and how will that input influence what is consumed or how the user engages? Will they add a product to a cart, submit a form, leave a review, or trigger a specific action in a system? These are system level decisions that must work across many surfaces. The possibilities for capturing and responding to input are countless and they change depending on where, when and how the interaction happens.

This is the new frontier and it is still largely unknown. I am not offering fixed solutions because there is no single interface any more. We have to design for many possible environments and sometimes we will be designing for no interface at all. With the promise of non screen devices becoming a reality, and with the likelihood of limited visual opportunities such as subtle metrics or visual cues in something like meta glasses, we need to start preparing for a completely different type of interactive experience. That is only possible if we think in systems, not in surfaces.

Which is why it makes no sense to waste time learning how to make liquid glass effects or trendy chat UI patterns unless you are specifically designing for the companies and platforms that use them. Instead, invest your time in understanding how content will be seen, how it will be distributed, and what people are actually going to interact with in the context of your brand or your client's business. Build systems that can adapt to any surface because in the years ahead those surfaces will keep changing and the systems you create now will decide whether you can keep up.

CR—G