Review of Digital Product Design with Ian Spalter (Art of Abstract S2)

Netflix offers an excellent documentary series about world reowned creatives and their recent launch of Season 2, on 25 Sep 2019, features 6 new creative professionals, their work and its impact on the world.

As a fan of the series, having binged watch the entire Season 1 and Ilse Crawford (Interior Design) episode twice, I am looking forward to catching the rest of Season 2 and would like to give a quick summary of the 40+ mins episode featuring Ian Spalter, previously Head of Design for Instagram and current Head of Instagram, Japan. The episode matters to professionals working in the field of technology and I have highlighted why below.

Spalter defines the field of Digital Product Design succintly, "it's not just about the User Experience (UX), it's also about the overall product strategy. What we are putting out there is a product. And so it helps to orientate people on what's expected of them."

Design, Ethics & Society

The episode interviewed the creator of the infinite scroll and he expressed some regret over what he created from an ethical perspective. He likened it to drinking a glass of wine, except you don't have a glass as a 'stopping cue'.

The truth is, some of us have spent more time on Instagram and Facebook in the last 1 year than with most of our friends.

As I teach my UX students habit loops and the impact of their designs at scale, I forewarn the knowledge to impact human behaviour is a great responsibility especially when millions of people are using your website or app.

Startups drive growth at all costs with well designed acquisition and retention loops that trap you in a little simulator similar to a slot machine. We just haven't quite think in depth the dark side of increased app usage on the quality of our lives and on society.

Designers are like comedians

Criticism is part of the process. The ability to prototype the work and releasing it is going to get easier over time just like how Spalter compares product designers with comedians rewriting jokes after every set.

I recall a time where my clickable prototypes were done with Photoshop and Powerpoint because Sketch, Adobe XD and Invision did not exist then. Iterations were much more painful and getting pixel perfect user interfaces (UI) was a strain.

Even when Instagram is a mature product, the design is still being pushed for improvement. Can a funny joke get even funnier? Unlikely. However, jokes and designs have to change to fit with changing consumer preferences, in the world of digital products, that change is happening fast from a tools, trends and skills perspective.

Paring down to the essence

I have worked with stakeholders in the past who believe users need more features and utility triumps simplicity.

One part of the episode explored the Instagram logo change in 2016 which caused a media backlash. "Instagram's new logo is a travesety. Can we change it back please?" reads Adweek.

I find the logo case study relatable as Spalter and his team fights for what is right and not succumbing to users pushback requires courage and conviction.

Less is 'A bit more'

Spalter has a toaster that says "a bit more". The inclusion of the button is contextually spot on because most of us have been in a situation where we need to toast our bread "a bit more". It makes me wonder if the 'less is more' wisdom is still prevalent for designers or contextually helpful shortcuts, while less elegant, should be included for the benefit of the user. When is 'a bit more' enough?

Critique and conclusion

One of the things I wish there was more focus for this episode on was on designing across cultures. The episode had Instagram design team members in San Francisco briefly mentioning how the product is used differently in the U.S. vs Japan. There is a missed opportunity to dive deeper into how does user behaviour associate with the culture differences and what does the data say for a global app like Instagram.

Overall, the episode gave a good overview of this emerging field of designing for screens (a.k.a. interaction design) and is worth the watch if you are trying to understand the value of design in your organisation. I recommend all my UX students to give it a watch.

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@daylonsoh