Currently working on a major design overhaul of a live product, and I’m learning a lot in the process. Just wanted to share.
At first, it felt easy to change everything I wanted. With experience in both design and Bubble development, I can jump in and make the “Extreme Makeover” happen “supafast”. That’s fine.
But I’ve realized it’s not that simple. Sudden changes can disorient even the most loyal and experienced users.
Even with poor UX/UI, active users build neural shortcuts. They develop habits. They know that by clicking here → here → here, they’ll get to where they need.
When everything changes at once, those mental paths break. What follows is confusion, frustration, and often disengagement.
That’s why a redesign needs to be rolled out gradually. Changes should be incremental, clearly communicated, and spaced out so users have time to adapt.
Copy needs to carry more weight. Simplified flows need to spell out exactly what they do. And whenever a habit is being replaced, the new path must be made unmissably clear.
Because people hold tightly to what they know, habit often beats quality.
Sometimes the longer, familiar road feels safer than the shorter one you don’t yet trust.
The risk of ignoring this? Losing exactly the users who rely on your product the most.
Completely agree with you. I have noticed that many times even making a button more “beautiful” can lead to confusion in users. So yes I am also for the gradual and distanced improvement
Yes, very true. Good points. I hope Bubble follows this process for us. It seems like they are now. At first they tried to do a huge UX/UI design change but dropped it and started going in phases, which, like you mentioned, is much better.
Me too on wishing Bubble would follow this, but totally disagree that they are. Of the 3 that @lucaspiccoliw mentioned, “Changes should be incremental, clearly communicated, and spaced out”, the only Bubble does at all is space out the changes since they find a new different shiny feature and leave a feature mid-increment.
This rings so true for how many workaround I do without even thinking to compensate…
One thing I kind of sorta have a pet peeve about is the way people use shadows.
I see shadows that are a lighter color than the background, etc. Blue shadows, purple shadows…
there’s a whole science behind shadows in UI.
If someone doesn’t know how to use shadows…and I know in Bubble we can’t stack shadows…the best approach is to use black and set its transparency. This allows the background to fade through, creating a real shadow effect.
Just a little thing I always notice.
Added: I’m saying in real life, if you have a blue box, it doesn’t cast a blue shadow. It’s just something that really irritates me. Maybe I’m being petty, but it’s not the proper UI
For websites/landing pages, to get that neon effect, I think colored shadows can look amazing. If you go to Apple’s website, you’ll see it. But not on apps.
There’s a difference in approach for these different subjects… a website looks more like a magazine or an outdoor ad. An app is more like the cockpit of an airplane… so there’s no room for shenanigans: simple, direct, and clear always win.
If you go through the site, you’ll see the shadows are what I described.
The ‘neon effect’ is a different category, which is not actually shadows, but the neon effect.
A neon effect is different.
Added: If you’re talking about the main Apple site with the Apple logo…that is set up to be a neon effect. So, what you describe as shadows are not actually intended to be shadows, but effects from the neon lighting.
Added: Maybe it’s just from my years of college, or maybe I have other issues But, as I said, it’s just a pet peeve I have, and it seems to be shared with others in the design field. Do what you think looks best. As long as you’re making money and continuing to grow, you’re on the right track
You can do this safely in CSS added to your app. But you actually manage to get a very similar effect with a very thin border and a slightly darker color than the background color. I use it on all the buttons of my app. In my opinion it doesn’t flatten and doesn’t look like a 1990s button. I still see a lot to build with horrible fonts and with a general trash. We are in 2025, Bubble helps us with the code part let’s put ours for the UI part
But, as I said, it’s just a pet peeve I have, and it seems to be shared with others in the design field. Do what you think looks best. As long as you’re making money and continuing to grow, you’re on the right track
