An identity designer’s skill set absolutely must include the ability to identify—and not fear—misoneism, which is the hatred or dislike of change, new ideas, or innovation. Any new logo or identity system will get people’s hackles up, and Instagram’s new identity is no exception.
It’s Nice That interviewed Jasmine Probst, Meta’s director of product design, and May Hartono, director of brand design, about Instagram’s new identity, which has inspired everything from ridicule to contempt. Among other perceptive questions, the interviewer asked how, during pre-release, they filtered out subjective personal taste in order to focus on feedback that uncovers a genuine design flaw.
[Jasmine] “Two phrases we come back to a lot: ‘Strong opinions, loosely held’ and ‘Hard on the work, soft on the people.’ The biggest signal for us is pattern recognition. A genuine design flaw tends to nag; it doesn’t go away after one conversation. If we can’t all understand or align on why something is the way it is, it’s a pretty good signal we haven’t nailed it yet.”
[May] “We’re intentional about pacing, too. Creating space for disagreement, knowing when people need time to digest and when it’s time to lock in and move on. When everybody on the team knows that we’re all here to create the same thing, that makes it actually quite easy then to put your own subjective perspective to rest.”
