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Reflections on Abstract: The Art of Design w/ Ian Spalter

Season 2 of Netflix’s Abstract: The Art of Design features Instagram’s new Head of Design, Ian Spalter. This episode was very inspiring due to the sheer impact of Spalter’s work at Nike and eventually Instagram. Despite the magnitude of his work what struck me the most was Spalter’s humble demeanor and generally chill attitude. He runs a team of designer that create change on an app that impacts nearly 1 billion people and yet the magnitude of this feat doesn’t seem to phase him. Watching him struggle through the initial redesign and of the app reminded me of how I approach many of products except for Instagram many of their mockups are in high-fidelity. Depending on the phase of the digital product the need for low to high fidelity prototypes can change. 

Here are some of my reflections and notes from the episode: 

Infinite scroll: Aza Raskin apologizing for creating the infinite scroll was one my favorite parts of the episode. This feature led to the addictive behaviors that we see on apps like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. What’s been even more interesting is watching IG try to mitigate its impact with new features like the “You’ve seen all the new post” which is supposed to prompt a user to stop scrolling during that session. I’ve found that while this prompt does stop me from scrolling down my feed it just causes me to redirect my attention to the stories panel where once again the user can get lost in content. 

Iterative process: Design being an iterative process is a concept that I am familiar with but watching it at work on a sophisticate product like IG was fascinating. Product designers at IG are still creating mockups and talking through each problem in order to test and get at the most useful solution for the problem at hand. We get a chance to sit in on one of his product meeting and watch designers pitch all kinds of ideas that look like they won’t work. He encourages them to “fall off the cliff” in order to get to the most innovative idea which is find is brave and pushes the industry forward. 

Travel/nature informing design: Spalter mentioned that he didn’t get to travel much as a child but now he finds it to be inspirational and an endless source for him to derive designs from. I’ve found too that a part from looking at the work of other talented product designers, simply looking at the things that humans interact with every can inform how we interact with technology.

Parting quote: “You make a lot of bad stuff…that’s just part of the process.”

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jean paul gaultier top (1990′s)

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Nigeria. Warri region. Niger river delta. 1977. Bruno Barbey.

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Waris Dirie by Albert Watson (1993)

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Model: Mariama Diallo Makeup: Natalia Malova

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Cai Guo-Qiang, Sky Ladder, Huiyu Island Harbour, Quanzhou, Fujian, June 15, 2015 at 4:49 am