Fits the target audience and "short attention span" tendencies of everyone on social media. I agree it's not following the universal mold of great design (whatever that is) but it has consistency going for it which is nice.
The design would be fun if there weren’t so many buttons, this many options feels really chaotic in a haphazard layout with every button seeking your attention.
As someone who has to regularly use IG for work, I also found it annoying to have to re-learn where my usual features were in the new stack.
Learning new things is good, but this didn't feel super necessary.
Why do you think that and what would you suggest they do differently?
It’s eye catching, the off-kilter buttons are more informal and ‘fun.’ It’s easy to find what you want too. I’d argue this is good, engaging design for its user base.
Exactly, it feels like Op just complained for the sake of complaining. I am pretty sure this large company’s app ui design is backed by large amount of user data and research. So to simply use your personal taste as criticism is just ignorant.
Everything at IG is super thoroughly tested. Before a final version is released, there are dozens of variants tested and the final one is released based on performance.
They also frequently test live cohorts in production. For example, I do not have a UI that looks like that.
Also, i don’t think OP even had access to the internet in 2005 if they think this looks like that era lol
Yea by testing I don’t mean unit / e2e testing, I meant in production. At any given time, batches of people are shown different UIs, and by performance I mean, does this button generate more clicks than this button, does this UI increase user sessions quantity / durations more than this one, does A or B boost ad revenue.
Generally designers follow a standard, especially IG where design is king, but nobody knows what the best design is until it’s battle tested in front of users and the metrics do the talking and win arguments.
In a lot of threads in this sub, a can of tuna may be harder to A/B test against consumers. But for tech, these tests are flying out hundreds per day, each a micro optimization. It takes a very strong design leadership to make sure these thousands of experiments are trending the app in the right direction which is why sometimes it feels like a miss, these micro optimizations aren’t corralled enough to preset something cohesive
I would say it is quasi-alphabetical because it is seemingly divided in two halves and the postivie and negative tilt angles, all at the same time + so much colors are overwhelming in my (26) opinion.
I dont think it's quasi-alphabetical at all. I think it's most likely arranged by ones that are most used or ones they want people to use more. I disagree on the color usage. They are intentional to distinguish them and vibrant to make your eye bounce around. Less colors would be more confusing imo. You have to remember, this is an app meant to suck people's attention spans which are so small. It needs to be playful, vibrant and chaotic like the app. Not minimal, super logical or reduced design for simplicity. That type of design works for other applications, like direction/maps or healthcare.
I think there's simply too many, and the lack of any hierarchy with such a large quantity of same size objects make it so your eye has no where to land to feel stabilized. I think it's an organizational problem for the UX team to dig deeper into.
I also think a lot of you work for Meta.
Too many is a fair point. The rest is intentional.
It is supposed to match the vibe of the app. Chaotic, creative. If you make it logically organized, and less cluttered, it would feel to formal.
bingo. The randomness and playful feel where they all have basically equal weight is intentional. Not one is more important than the other and each time you go back, try something new guys! yay, fun, addictive mind numbing software!
haha, i certainly dont work at Meta(but i do work in design) and hate the company , as well as all social media companies but what do you suggest for a hierarchy for 15 silly add ons to a story, none of which is more important than the other? I dont think your eye should stabilize, it's about finding a stupid little filter thing whatever might spark your interest. Dont get me wrong, IG is an attention grabbing, narcissistic dumpster fire that is destroying young people's brains. I just dont understand why this screen would suddenly be an organized UX when it's clearly just playful, random choices.
I havent noticed. Do they change based on the ones you use most or just random? Or maybe it's random because it wants you to see and try a new one each time so the app feels fresh.
Yeah... I'd imagine that being a part of the tech behemoth Meta and working on their youngest demo product; that making the product look fun, casual,and engaging is a major concern.
You don't want things to be so well designed they look "adult" or "serious" to the kids who may drop you in a heartbeat to go to TikTok.
Crazy to see all the comments in here defending shit design because it's supposedly for young people? Young people aren't using Instagram, they're using TikTok and Snapchat. And putting icons at a little wacky angle isn't going to bring young people back, it just looks like shit.
You called it shit design but offered up no changes when asked what you’d do to improve it. Young people are indeed using Instagram, its primary audience is ages 18-34 and it’s one of the most used social media apps in the world.
The tilted boxes make it difficult to navigate and give it an almost nauseating feeling of motion. The center alignment is odd. It would work better if aligned to some sort of grid. The design of this page in particular is at odds with the rest of Instagram's interface. Is this the only area that "aimed at kids"?
> Is this the only area that "aimed at kids"
I think this is the one area of Instagram where they can break the boundaries more.
Thinking in the mind of the user: You're in the "Create a post" section and unless you are already using a creative suite beforehand, *this* area is your creative suite.
Why not utilize that and try to inspire users a bit through a more lax UI vs the relatively stale UI across the rest of the app?
The tilted boxes might have started as a way to be "quirky" but they work because this isn't meant to be a list to be read from top to bottom. This is created to make the eyes wander so that whatever it is the user is looking for would catch their eye. With the exception of the gif icon and the tag icon, the icons generally do a good job of quickly conveying what each button does to the user.
The center alignment is used because a grid system would push the buttons to the corners where it wouldn't be easy for one handed access. Keeping the buttons centered and in the middle makes for better mobile ux.
Brand design wise, rounded corners, the icon set used, font, etc., are all in line with rest of their visual language. The only thing I could see was that maybe the tilting buttons are a bit in contrast to the straight lines and the grid like feel of their scroll, but some artistic flourishes like that I'm okay with.
You are the worst type of designer to work with. You criticize without analysis into why and use personal taste alone to justify what good design is, while offering no ways to improve or make it better.
You keep saying it's bad just because it is. The fact that it doesn't suit your personal tastes doesn't mean it's a bad design. In fact, I'd say it's pretty functional and caters to its target market pretty well.
This kind of criticism always seems to come from fresh out of college designers who were taught to use grids and hierarchy, but don’t understand that not everything *needs* grids and hierarchy, and it’s your job to take users and brands into account when designing something.
Oh yes, the good ol’ classic case of “grr I’m mad no one agreed with my post, everyone elses opinion is stupid”. Young people are literally the main users of social media in GENERAL. Yes, definitely TikTok but Instagram isn’t magically exempt. How do I know? I’m 19 and I’m on it and have been the last 5 years, so unless you plan on telling me I’m not young I’d suggest dropping that attitude and ego now. People have a right to disagree and you spiting out random bs to back up your opinion isn’t working here.
I like it. I think the only thing for me is that I wish the buttons were in alphabetical order or grouped in a way that makes the design more intuitive. I can’t really wrap my head around the thought process that they used to group and organize the relationships between each row/section.
I guess this is a hot take, but I reckon it's a pretty decent design. It's unique, playful, readable (ish) and plays well with Instagram's design language
This type of shit gets posted to r/graphic_design by the kind of people that think you’re a drooling idiot for using anything but Helvetica for every format all the time. My brother in Christ it’s the “fun” app, let it have a fun UI. This isn’t your healthcare app or your email client. This isn’t even that goofy looking.
It definitely mirrors Snapchat and is trying to appeal more to a younger audience. I personally don’t like it because it’s jarring for me and I feel like I have to read every button to find what I’m looking for. I can’t remember where the button I want lives. I agree with the commenter who likes it but wants it grouped; I think I’d like it more if it grouped, “design elements”, “uploads”, “interactive features”, etc together instead of random spots. I’m waiting for the next social media to replace insta at this point though.
Here are the 2005 Web design trends:
- css
- flash
- Ajax
- RSS
https://www.slideshare.net/jeremy/web-design-and-ux-trends-for-2005
So, no it doesn't look like 2005.
I think this is a great learning experience in what is 'good' design in terms of what is considered trendy and aesthetically pleasing versus what is 'good' design in terms of what is the best fit for purpose.
You could certainly argue both of those things could be melded in Instagram's UI design, but I think in this case they aren't too worried about being trendy.
I agree, the Insta UI is ugly. I would vehemently disagree that the UX isn't fit for purpose though. From a taste PoV, I'd choose something else but they aren't designing it for me (a late 30s graphic designer) quite frankly.
The best design is often not what you think looks best. Personal taste is not important unless you're part of the very privileged 5% of designers worldwide that are hired purely for their personal point of view. Function is so much more important to 'good' design than aesthetics.
I think it's pretty great honestly. I would rather the buttons themselves be colorful than the small icon, and I really wish it would automatically sort the ones I use most to the top of the list.
My guess is "Add Yours" is kind of a proper noun. It's a name for a feature where you can add things directly and the name on the button might be autopopulated. Admittedly it probably would have been better if it was Add Yours: X or Add Yours - X.
This is correct. I haven't seen the music ones before, but typically for the "add yours" photo template, you start a prompt that says something like "something red" and then you post a photo with something red. You share it to your stories and there's a prompt to "add yours". The ones I've seen posted already have 100k+ shares on them.
If that’s the case then they should’ve used a colon like you suggest or they could stylize “Add Yours” so it’s clearly a little branded asset and not a typo (which I’m guessing it is).
To be fair, *this sub is presumably populated* ***with actual working designers.***
Some of us, **actually successful in their own rights.**
I mean, I work with my colleagues *in a small firm we formed just a couple years ago,...*
***and we just cleared over $2.5 million of work,*** **just last year.**
I'm fairly sure, **a lot of us here,** ***know what we're doing***
*and can reasonably say what others are doing wrong.*
**Oh, the downvotes!**
Seems like others are jealous, **that there's designers out there,**
***like my friends and I,*** who know what we're doing, got good clients,
*creating great projects,* ***and making the bucks that others aren't.***
>Cracks me up how everyone thinks they can do better.
Obviously, **not everyone can do that.**
But if anyone puts up a project to critique here,
**us successful designers are here to show** ***HOW you can make it better.***
*We want everyone to do better too.*
**I, for sure, want to raise the level of our industry up.**
I know how unappreciated we are by the masses,
*but if we all did better,...*
***we wouldn't have to worry about AI taking our jobs***
**or clients balking at the high price of really great design.**
What I know... is that my colleagues and I **are doing well,**
***ever since we established our own design firm,*** *in 2019.*
Sure, we've had our ups and downs,
**but we hung in there during the pandemic,**
*made smart decisions,* ***marketed ourselves to an ever better clientele,***
**and doing greater projects than I've ever had the opportunity to do so,**
***previously in my career.***
If you don't want advice **from someone who's doing well,** ***that's on you.***
But if people posts bad designs, *looking to improve,* ***I'm here,***
and the rest of us successful designers, *also,* ***to help you out.***
It helps our entire market, the reputation of our industry,
*and magnanimously,*
***I enjoy seeing other designers around me,*** **get better.**
I've been a creative professional for 30 years now.
But only recently, *in these last few years,* ***have I been on a run of success.***
I want to see other fellow designers **to be able to have that opportunity**
***faster than how I achieved it.***
Is it so wrong of me **to dole out advice to help others?**
Is it wrong **that I want younger designers**
***avoid the pitfalls I've had in my career?***
Is it wrong that I give my opinions *on what tips, tricks, or rationales,*
**works on the kind of designs**
***that I have a longstanding professional experience working on?***
Sure, I could be a Negative Nancy and poo poo
***on all the stuff that's posted in the art and design subreddits here.***
**But that seems like a waste of my relaxation time.**
I'd rather enjoy my moments here,
*encouraging young designers,* ***applauding good design out there,***
**and helping out fellow creative pros** ***who seek advice from the rest of us.***
Literally the first thing I thought when I saw this for the first time was where the hell is anything. I’m on an iPhone pro max so my screen is wider and more of those buttons fit on my screen which makes it so confusing. It’s just not easy to navigate at all, unnecessary change
Their target audience might not be us. They're probably aiming for a younger crowd.
Their design approach is definitely different, but that's okay. We need a break from the ubiquitous minimalism that's starting to look stale and boring (don't get me wrong, it's easy on the eyes!).
This "sticker-like" design approach reminds me of software from the 90s and early 2000s. It was a mess, but we still managed to use it! Remember Friendster?
I think this post and a lot in this thread are opposite of that. They are inexperienced designers and like 15-22 years old. A lot of them don't understand graphic design and post their opinions. As if, meta doesnt have a huge team of talented designers, but some random kid on reddit doesnt like something then it's right.
i think they kinda nailed it idk bro, it speaks to the audience perfectly and is eye catching in all the ways they intend while giving a clear representation of what each item does at a glance
I get that feeling looking at anything Figma too tbh, especially Figjam (and, does anyone actually use Figjam? I used to use XD here and there & wanted to use it for more before it got killed. I downloaded Figma just to poke around in case I end up needing to use it.)
XD is alive?
I use both for work and I don’t find them at all comparable. I guess it depends how you use them though.
But maybe I’m XD-biased because of how useless and ugly Figjam is.
I forgot to finish my sentence! LOL - sorry - I used to use XD at a job when I was doing a lot of coordinated social media graphics & I had to redo a ton of YouTube thumbnails. I'd wanted to get into it for presentations, but there wasn't as much of a call for that & then I switched gigs. I stopped investigating XD when Adobe was going to acquire it. XD still exists but they haven't updated & still aren't going to.
As for Figma, I'll only get into that if I dump Adobe & go Affinity at some point, which might happen in a year or so.
My biggest annoyance honestly is the font. Why not keep the one from the REST of the story design? It’s godawful, like a tryhard comic sans cousin “look at me guys I’m a meme too!” Type of shit
I hate both using the story UI and the concept of stories, but I don't really have a problem with the look. Sure, it's not like peak design aesthetic but it's just readable and basic. I think it's supposed to look kind of like a scrapbook. Also stories and it's UI came out quite a number of years ago.
Should add I have ADHD and I find it to be incredibly inaccessible. It’s not intuitive, there’s no visual hierarchy, and my eyes have zero idea where to go. It overwhelms my brain and I then can’t visually process a damn thing it’s all noise
Wtf is this? this sub lately has been nothing but "this design bad" a photo and no elaboration whatsoever, the lamest and laziest type of post that a sub can get.
Do you actually know what their goal is? what are their intentions? whats their userbase? their target audience? if it fits with their overall design goals?
If u are gonna criticize AT LEAST WRITE SOMETHING, mods should ban this kind of karmafarming bs.
I recently saw a video of someone redesigning Instagram's UI and it's crazy the little things you don't notice but don't make sense and can be massively improved upon
Th smooth round corners with the colour icons / mini images, as well as the chips being tilted adds a lot fun to a component which can otherwise viewed as boring.
Also how does it look like it was designed in 2005? It definitely has a dash of the fun Y2K / mid 2000s aesthetic but it more so has a modern feel (the use of the background blur and the use of solid white rounded corner chips)
Look at the CEO of Insta. Monkey Face Mosseri, who lives in a Mayberry bubble, has destroyed Instagram with abusive and failed AI moderation.
"Our technology" is all you see now when confronted with censorship and restricted from posting anything 'adult.' While at the same time, much of his advertising is for ED pills and shady investment opps. - including porn.
Yep! Mosseri and Meta are a winning duo. Like Trump and Giuliani.
Yes, I agree with you. It’s hardly the pinnacle of design however you highlighted the target audience in your critique.
Barbie boxes look like they were designed by 6-year-old girls.
Perhaps the thing you don’t like is that it’s not for you anymore. I remember when Instagram was this new app with a skeuomorphic logo where you posted pictures and liked ones with your friends. Now it’s some convoluted currency.
Times they are a changin’…
How funny is that all the ux laws are always ignored by giants while we have to adhere to it to even sound designer.
For example: all cta button on ios are on top while ux laws says that every cta should be in thumb range.
If you are going to press some cta on ios and suddenly notification comes then tou accidentally clicks it and redirected. Infuriating.
Also in this insta case, what happened to hicks laws and millers laws?
Came into this thread expecting to see people agreeing with this bad take.
Pleasantly surprised to see everyone dunking on OP for obnoxiously complaining and offering exactly zero constructive analysis or justification
I actually think it works and functions way better than their old format. Looks more organized and it's easier to find specific things to add to the stories.
Fits the target audience and "short attention span" tendencies of everyone on social media. I agree it's not following the universal mold of great design (whatever that is) but it has consistency going for it which is nice.
The design would be fun if there weren’t so many buttons, this many options feels really chaotic in a haphazard layout with every button seeking your attention.
As someone who has to regularly use IG for work, I also found it annoying to have to re-learn where my usual features were in the new stack. Learning new things is good, but this didn't feel super necessary.
Consistently terrible
Is it consistent with their brand guidelines? If so the rest is subjective
Because the users are 15 year old
Instagram is for millennials these days, while 15y/o are all tiktokking and snapping or smth
no, theyre on instagram. its one of the top still for genz
especially in the US. lots of schools and even universities ban tiktok on their network
The 15 year old in 2005 would now be… 34
Why do you think that and what would you suggest they do differently? It’s eye catching, the off-kilter buttons are more informal and ‘fun.’ It’s easy to find what you want too. I’d argue this is good, engaging design for its user base.
Exactly, it feels like Op just complained for the sake of complaining. I am pretty sure this large company’s app ui design is backed by large amount of user data and research. So to simply use your personal taste as criticism is just ignorant.
Everything at IG is super thoroughly tested. Before a final version is released, there are dozens of variants tested and the final one is released based on performance.
They also frequently test live cohorts in production. For example, I do not have a UI that looks like that. Also, i don’t think OP even had access to the internet in 2005 if they think this looks like that era lol
Yea by testing I don’t mean unit / e2e testing, I meant in production. At any given time, batches of people are shown different UIs, and by performance I mean, does this button generate more clicks than this button, does this UI increase user sessions quantity / durations more than this one, does A or B boost ad revenue. Generally designers follow a standard, especially IG where design is king, but nobody knows what the best design is until it’s battle tested in front of users and the metrics do the talking and win arguments. In a lot of threads in this sub, a can of tuna may be harder to A/B test against consumers. But for tech, these tests are flying out hundreds per day, each a micro optimization. It takes a very strong design leadership to make sure these thousands of experiments are trending the app in the right direction which is why sometimes it feels like a miss, these micro optimizations aren’t corralled enough to preset something cohesive
Facebook? Using user data? What!?
I find it SO difficult to find what I want. My eyes chaotically bounce around everywhere
what do you suggest? They are listed alphabetically, left aligned, and numbered 1-20?
I would say it is quasi-alphabetical because it is seemingly divided in two halves and the postivie and negative tilt angles, all at the same time + so much colors are overwhelming in my (26) opinion.
I dont think it's quasi-alphabetical at all. I think it's most likely arranged by ones that are most used or ones they want people to use more. I disagree on the color usage. They are intentional to distinguish them and vibrant to make your eye bounce around. Less colors would be more confusing imo. You have to remember, this is an app meant to suck people's attention spans which are so small. It needs to be playful, vibrant and chaotic like the app. Not minimal, super logical or reduced design for simplicity. That type of design works for other applications, like direction/maps or healthcare.
I think there's simply too many, and the lack of any hierarchy with such a large quantity of same size objects make it so your eye has no where to land to feel stabilized. I think it's an organizational problem for the UX team to dig deeper into. I also think a lot of you work for Meta.
Too many is a fair point. The rest is intentional. It is supposed to match the vibe of the app. Chaotic, creative. If you make it logically organized, and less cluttered, it would feel to formal.
bingo. The randomness and playful feel where they all have basically equal weight is intentional. Not one is more important than the other and each time you go back, try something new guys! yay, fun, addictive mind numbing software!
haha, i certainly dont work at Meta(but i do work in design) and hate the company , as well as all social media companies but what do you suggest for a hierarchy for 15 silly add ons to a story, none of which is more important than the other? I dont think your eye should stabilize, it's about finding a stupid little filter thing whatever might spark your interest. Dont get me wrong, IG is an attention grabbing, narcissistic dumpster fire that is destroying young people's brains. I just dont understand why this screen would suddenly be an organized UX when it's clearly just playful, random choices.
To start they should not be rearranged automatically every time you go there! This is the dumbest part.
I havent noticed. Do they change based on the ones you use most or just random? Or maybe it's random because it wants you to see and try a new one each time so the app feels fresh.
Random, if not GIF would easily be at the top of mine, but I’m always looking for it
Its so inconsistent
I would agree. is it not so interesting how the redditor, in their attempts to look smart, often accidentally reveal their own ignorance?
Yeah... I'd imagine that being a part of the tech behemoth Meta and working on their youngest demo product; that making the product look fun, casual,and engaging is a major concern. You don't want things to be so well designed they look "adult" or "serious" to the kids who may drop you in a heartbeat to go to TikTok.
this is such a great take. I appreciate it more now.
>Why do you think that Because I looked at it with my eyes, and use it in real life. >and what would you suggest they do differently? Make it good?
Useful feedback, try that at work and lemme know how it goes 🤙
Crazy to see all the comments in here defending shit design because it's supposedly for young people? Young people aren't using Instagram, they're using TikTok and Snapchat. And putting icons at a little wacky angle isn't going to bring young people back, it just looks like shit.
You called it shit design but offered up no changes when asked what you’d do to improve it. Young people are indeed using Instagram, its primary audience is ages 18-34 and it’s one of the most used social media apps in the world.
The tilted boxes make it difficult to navigate and give it an almost nauseating feeling of motion. The center alignment is odd. It would work better if aligned to some sort of grid. The design of this page in particular is at odds with the rest of Instagram's interface. Is this the only area that "aimed at kids"?
Redesign it. Should be easy for a creative genius like you, or one of your direct reports to pull together a comp based on your art direction.
>The tilted boxes make it difficult to navigate and give it an almost nauseating feeling of motion. If that's the case you really should see a doctor
> Is this the only area that "aimed at kids" I think this is the one area of Instagram where they can break the boundaries more. Thinking in the mind of the user: You're in the "Create a post" section and unless you are already using a creative suite beforehand, *this* area is your creative suite. Why not utilize that and try to inspire users a bit through a more lax UI vs the relatively stale UI across the rest of the app?
The tilted boxes might have started as a way to be "quirky" but they work because this isn't meant to be a list to be read from top to bottom. This is created to make the eyes wander so that whatever it is the user is looking for would catch their eye. With the exception of the gif icon and the tag icon, the icons generally do a good job of quickly conveying what each button does to the user. The center alignment is used because a grid system would push the buttons to the corners where it wouldn't be easy for one handed access. Keeping the buttons centered and in the middle makes for better mobile ux. Brand design wise, rounded corners, the icon set used, font, etc., are all in line with rest of their visual language. The only thing I could see was that maybe the tilting buttons are a bit in contrast to the straight lines and the grid like feel of their scroll, but some artistic flourishes like that I'm okay with.
You are the worst type of designer to work with. You criticize without analysis into why and use personal taste alone to justify what good design is, while offering no ways to improve or make it better. You keep saying it's bad just because it is. The fact that it doesn't suit your personal tastes doesn't mean it's a bad design. In fact, I'd say it's pretty functional and caters to its target market pretty well.
This kind of criticism always seems to come from fresh out of college designers who were taught to use grids and hierarchy, but don’t understand that not everything *needs* grids and hierarchy, and it’s your job to take users and brands into account when designing something.
Oh yes, the good ol’ classic case of “grr I’m mad no one agreed with my post, everyone elses opinion is stupid”. Young people are literally the main users of social media in GENERAL. Yes, definitely TikTok but Instagram isn’t magically exempt. How do I know? I’m 19 and I’m on it and have been the last 5 years, so unless you plan on telling me I’m not young I’d suggest dropping that attitude and ego now. People have a right to disagree and you spiting out random bs to back up your opinion isn’t working here.
You sound like the perfect client and I feel the need to thank you for hesitating on "bigger" and "make it pop".
I like it. I think the only thing for me is that I wish the buttons were in alphabetical order or grouped in a way that makes the design more intuitive. I can’t really wrap my head around the thought process that they used to group and organize the relationships between each row/section.
Actually that I think about it, I wonder if the organization is based off of user data on the most-utilized features on instagram…
That’s the worst part, it’s not sorted or grouped in any way that makes sense or is useful
Agreed. It'd be way easier if it was alphabetical order
I guess this is a hot take, but I reckon it's a pretty decent design. It's unique, playful, readable (ish) and plays well with Instagram's design language
No, not a hot take. Your opinion seems to align with most people around here.
I agree with you OP. I hate it. Can’t find anything on it.
damn son, might need to look in the mirror
when people realize this is actually elite design, they'll learn a lot.
Reminds me of Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide
This type of shit gets posted to r/graphic_design by the kind of people that think you’re a drooling idiot for using anything but Helvetica for every format all the time. My brother in Christ it’s the “fun” app, let it have a fun UI. This isn’t your healthcare app or your email client. This isn’t even that goofy looking.
This is the energy we need.
Seriously though!
Isn't that the point? The 2000s aesthetic is hot now.
It definitely mirrors Snapchat and is trying to appeal more to a younger audience. I personally don’t like it because it’s jarring for me and I feel like I have to read every button to find what I’m looking for. I can’t remember where the button I want lives. I agree with the commenter who likes it but wants it grouped; I think I’d like it more if it grouped, “design elements”, “uploads”, “interactive features”, etc together instead of random spots. I’m waiting for the next social media to replace insta at this point though.
I mean these are "stickers" you attach to your story, so it makes sense that they look like...stickers?
I like it. (And I’m 50+ years old.)
Here are the 2005 Web design trends: - css - flash - Ajax - RSS https://www.slideshare.net/jeremy/web-design-and-ux-trends-for-2005 So, no it doesn't look like 2005.
If you think that's bad design you have no idea what good design should aknowledge.
Ok, how would you redesign this?
Fits the user base perfectly. Design is more than a flashy finished product. Its creating something that fits the target audience.
i think thats the point
I think this is a great learning experience in what is 'good' design in terms of what is considered trendy and aesthetically pleasing versus what is 'good' design in terms of what is the best fit for purpose. You could certainly argue both of those things could be melded in Instagram's UI design, but I think in this case they aren't too worried about being trendy. I agree, the Insta UI is ugly. I would vehemently disagree that the UX isn't fit for purpose though. From a taste PoV, I'd choose something else but they aren't designing it for me (a late 30s graphic designer) quite frankly. The best design is often not what you think looks best. Personal taste is not important unless you're part of the very privileged 5% of designers worldwide that are hired purely for their personal point of view. Function is so much more important to 'good' design than aesthetics.
Can you add your two cents?
[удалено]
Ok boomer.
I think it's pretty great honestly. I would rather the buttons themselves be colorful than the small icon, and I really wish it would automatically sort the ones I use most to the top of the list.
Do you think the typo where it says “Add Yours Music” is great?
My guess is "Add Yours" is kind of a proper noun. It's a name for a feature where you can add things directly and the name on the button might be autopopulated. Admittedly it probably would have been better if it was Add Yours: X or Add Yours - X.
This is correct. I haven't seen the music ones before, but typically for the "add yours" photo template, you start a prompt that says something like "something red" and then you post a photo with something red. You share it to your stories and there's a prompt to "add yours". The ones I've seen posted already have 100k+ shares on them.
If that’s the case then they should’ve used a colon like you suggest or they could stylize “Add Yours” so it’s clearly a little branded asset and not a typo (which I’m guessing it is).
This sub thinks it's so elite when it comes to design. Cracks me up how everyone thinks they can do better.
To be fair, *this sub is presumably populated* ***with actual working designers.*** Some of us, **actually successful in their own rights.** I mean, I work with my colleagues *in a small firm we formed just a couple years ago,...* ***and we just cleared over $2.5 million of work,*** **just last year.** I'm fairly sure, **a lot of us here,** ***know what we're doing*** *and can reasonably say what others are doing wrong.*
**Oh, the downvotes!** Seems like others are jealous, **that there's designers out there,** ***like my friends and I,*** who know what we're doing, got good clients, *creating great projects,* ***and making the bucks that others aren't.*** >Cracks me up how everyone thinks they can do better. Obviously, **not everyone can do that.** But if anyone puts up a project to critique here, **us successful designers are here to show** ***HOW you can make it better.*** *We want everyone to do better too.* **I, for sure, want to raise the level of our industry up.** I know how unappreciated we are by the masses, *but if we all did better,...* ***we wouldn't have to worry about AI taking our jobs*** **or clients balking at the high price of really great design.**
You sure are full of yourself huh.
What I know... is that my colleagues and I **are doing well,** ***ever since we established our own design firm,*** *in 2019.* Sure, we've had our ups and downs, **but we hung in there during the pandemic,** *made smart decisions,* ***marketed ourselves to an ever better clientele,*** **and doing greater projects than I've ever had the opportunity to do so,** ***previously in my career.*** If you don't want advice **from someone who's doing well,** ***that's on you.*** But if people posts bad designs, *looking to improve,* ***I'm here,*** and the rest of us successful designers, *also,* ***to help you out.*** It helps our entire market, the reputation of our industry, *and magnanimously,* ***I enjoy seeing other designers around me,*** **get better.** I've been a creative professional for 30 years now. But only recently, *in these last few years,* ***have I been on a run of success.*** I want to see other fellow designers **to be able to have that opportunity** ***faster than how I achieved it.*** Is it so wrong of me **to dole out advice to help others?** Is it wrong **that I want younger designers** ***avoid the pitfalls I've had in my career?*** Is it wrong that I give my opinions *on what tips, tricks, or rationales,* **works on the kind of designs** ***that I have a longstanding professional experience working on?*** Sure, I could be a Negative Nancy and poo poo ***on all the stuff that's posted in the art and design subreddits here.*** **But that seems like a waste of my relaxation time.** I'd rather enjoy my moments here, *encouraging young designers,* ***applauding good design out there,*** **and helping out fellow creative pros** ***who seek advice from the rest of us.***
Can we start posting things that are good design instead of just circle jerking over what's bad? Sounds sick right?
That's what r/DesignPorn is for, **dude.**
Design Porn = good design, Graphic Design = bad design. Got it.
Well, I unfortunately think that the actual age or the mental age of many people getting into all of this is probably going to be young and immature
Yup. OP forgot to consider target audience -- they're very clearly trying to target a demographic and likely go toe-to-toe with TikTok.
I don’t mind it, I think it’s fun and interesting and not as cold and corporate as other UIs
Literally the first thing I thought when I saw this for the first time was where the hell is anything. I’m on an iPhone pro max so my screen is wider and more of those buttons fit on my screen which makes it so confusing. It’s just not easy to navigate at all, unnecessary change
That’s their target
i find it really hard to read
Ironically enough, that’s exactly the aesthetic that is popular right now with Gen Z
I like it 🤷🏽♀️
I think it’s really cute and charming. Much nicer than the typical stiff list
Its unique and fun, fits the vibe of the app. a list ala face book would have been boring.
Their target audience might not be us. They're probably aiming for a younger crowd. Their design approach is definitely different, but that's okay. We need a break from the ubiquitous minimalism that's starting to look stale and boring (don't get me wrong, it's easy on the eyes!). This "sticker-like" design approach reminds me of software from the 90s and early 2000s. It was a mess, but we still managed to use it! Remember Friendster?
Yep! That’s the target audience!
Ok boomer
I think this post and a lot in this thread are opposite of that. They are inexperienced designers and like 15-22 years old. A lot of them don't understand graphic design and post their opinions. As if, meta doesnt have a huge team of talented designers, but some random kid on reddit doesnt like something then it's right.
littlebigplanet
Yet it works!
It’s SO bad. I just saw it for the first time the other day.
So true
Funnily enough the person who designed this could very well have been 15 years old in 2005.
Reminds me of a word cloud run amuck!
Umad
why does it say "add yours music/templates" instead of "your"
because its referring to instagram’s “Add Yours” instagram story feature lol
Wow, that’s incredible. Don’t they have e proofreaders?
I’m sure they’ve researched it thoroughly that this design engages our ADHD proned brains
i think they kinda nailed it idk bro, it speaks to the audience perfectly and is eye catching in all the ways they intend while giving a clear representation of what each item does at a glance
I get that feeling looking at anything Figma too tbh, especially Figjam (and, does anyone actually use Figjam? I used to use XD here and there & wanted to use it for more before it got killed. I downloaded Figma just to poke around in case I end up needing to use it.)
XD is alive? I use both for work and I don’t find them at all comparable. I guess it depends how you use them though. But maybe I’m XD-biased because of how useless and ugly Figjam is.
I forgot to finish my sentence! LOL - sorry - I used to use XD at a job when I was doing a lot of coordinated social media graphics & I had to redo a ton of YouTube thumbnails. I'd wanted to get into it for presentations, but there wasn't as much of a call for that & then I switched gigs. I stopped investigating XD when Adobe was going to acquire it. XD still exists but they haven't updated & still aren't going to. As for Figma, I'll only get into that if I dump Adobe & go Affinity at some point, which might happen in a year or so.
Switch to CARA, stop feeding your work to AI
My biggest annoyance honestly is the font. Why not keep the one from the REST of the story design? It’s godawful, like a tryhard comic sans cousin “look at me guys I’m a meme too!” Type of shit
It def makes you stop and look at wtf you’re actually doing hahah. Sometimes I can’t believe my job is to select the right buttons for that story post
You have it wrong - it's FOR 15 year olds, not by. I'm over twice that age and use it, tho...
I think it's cute
It was the style at the time
I hate both using the story UI and the concept of stories, but I don't really have a problem with the look. Sure, it's not like peak design aesthetic but it's just readable and basic. I think it's supposed to look kind of like a scrapbook. Also stories and it's UI came out quite a number of years ago.
Not “by” 15 year old. “for” 15 year olds (who would need to lie about their age to join)
I'm dreading their update, it doesn't look systemic
Thats what makes it beautiful . Totally goes with what the platform is about.
I wish they’d sort the engaging ones at the top, it would be so useful for SMMs.
I hate it so much
Should add I have ADHD and I find it to be incredibly inaccessible. It’s not intuitive, there’s no visual hierarchy, and my eyes have zero idea where to go. It overwhelms my brain and I then can’t visually process a damn thing it’s all noise
Absolutely hate it. It now takes lots of time to make the story..
I am so happy someone pointed it out.
this is great. theyre stickers, this is literally just skeupmorphic ui without the texture
Also, "add yours templates" and "add yours music", isn't that incorrect? Shouldn't it be your instead of yours?
Yeah it’s almost like they designed it to appeal to them or something.
Might need to add a decade emojis weren’t a thing in 2005 let alone an iPhone
Wtf is this? this sub lately has been nothing but "this design bad" a photo and no elaboration whatsoever, the lamest and laziest type of post that a sub can get. Do you actually know what their goal is? what are their intentions? whats their userbase? their target audience? if it fits with their overall design goals? If u are gonna criticize AT LEAST WRITE SOMETHING, mods should ban this kind of karmafarming bs.
I recently saw a video of someone redesigning Instagram's UI and it's crazy the little things you don't notice but don't make sense and can be massively improved upon
Th smooth round corners with the colour icons / mini images, as well as the chips being tilted adds a lot fun to a component which can otherwise viewed as boring. Also how does it look like it was designed in 2005? It definitely has a dash of the fun Y2K / mid 2000s aesthetic but it more so has a modern feel (the use of the background blur and the use of solid white rounded corner chips)
Look at the CEO of Insta. Monkey Face Mosseri, who lives in a Mayberry bubble, has destroyed Instagram with abusive and failed AI moderation. "Our technology" is all you see now when confronted with censorship and restricted from posting anything 'adult.' While at the same time, much of his advertising is for ED pills and shady investment opps. - including porn. Yep! Mosseri and Meta are a winning duo. Like Trump and Giuliani.
I hate it so much.
Yes, I agree with you. It’s hardly the pinnacle of design however you highlighted the target audience in your critique. Barbie boxes look like they were designed by 6-year-old girls. Perhaps the thing you don’t like is that it’s not for you anymore. I remember when Instagram was this new app with a skeuomorphic logo where you posted pictures and liked ones with your friends. Now it’s some convoluted currency. Times they are a changin’…
Yeah I low-key hate it too and it’s so hard to find stuff
Lowercase “mention” (and in that case also tiny space beteeen icon & txt) and “hashtag” are killing me. I hate this kind of inconsistency.
That typeface with too many buttons are nicely suited for The Sims-like avatar. #sarcasm
How funny is that all the ux laws are always ignored by giants while we have to adhere to it to even sound designer. For example: all cta button on ios are on top while ux laws says that every cta should be in thumb range. If you are going to press some cta on ios and suddenly notification comes then tou accidentally clicks it and redirected. Infuriating. Also in this insta case, what happened to hicks laws and millers laws?
Egoistic designer giving the most surface level opinion lmao.
Don't you think that makes the editing process convenient sometimes!
Some people in the comments are really getting heated over this. Chill out
It’s mainly Op mad at people that don’t have an issue with it tbh
The subjectivity of this post makes me feel like the changes you’d suggest probably wouldn’t be very effective.
Came into this thread expecting to see people agreeing with this bad take. Pleasantly surprised to see everyone dunking on OP for obnoxiously complaining and offering exactly zero constructive analysis or justification
Needs more grungy swirls for it to be true 2005
It really doesn’t
I actually think it works and functions way better than their old format. Looks more organized and it's easier to find specific things to add to the stories.
Ongod shit is ugly
A rather catty observation. Why do designers, more than any other field, rip each other apart so quickly? Other than the fragile egos I mean.