How UX design can ruin a company.
Image Credit — https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/03/twitter-suffered-embarrassing-api-failure-apparently-breaking-all-links/
X, also known as Twitter, was once one of the biggest apps. According to Statistica, "X/Twitter's audience accounted for over 368 million monthly active users worldwide." Once the rebranding had taken place, the brand was "projected to decrease to approximately 335 million by 2024." This was not only due to how quickly users where expected to get used to the change but also to how sloppily the changeover was initiated, with Elon wanting to quickly throw away the Twitter branding after buying the company out.
It is important to understand that minimalist branding isn't fully a bad thing; however, it's important to link back to what the brand is about. The difference between Twitter and X is that Twitter's logo and branding link back to what the app is, whereas X links to nothing related to the app and its social and community elements. This can make a new person find that the app needs clarification as to the identity behind it. The decrease in users after the switch shows how a simple change in branding can make people turn against a brand.
The trend of minimalistic branding can add limitations to creativity. It may be a simple way to keep things uniform, but if every logo becomes the same black-and-white muted design, then how is a brand going to show its creativity and who it is? “Many viewers dislike the new Nickelodeon logo. It feels too generic and doesn’t seem kid-friendly at all.” Stated Themeisle. With this, there have been many people who have nostalgia and love for a pre-minimalistic design, so depending on the popularity of the brand, it can majorly affect its audience staying with the brand.
Facebook was another example of how the trend of rebranding can affect a brand. Facebook had changed its brand to Meta to link back to the metaverse. This worked when Meta wanted to work towards the metaverse however after Horizon Worlds had failed Meta pivoted back to focusing on Facebook. This made the name Meta feel more distant from the brand than it once was. A brand's name and message can still be associated with the brand even if they have moved away from their original concept. For example, the previous Twitter logo is still recognized and linked with Twitter today. The Twitter logo not only represented brand recognition but also was a sense of community that other apps lacked. As a result, the logo became a symbol of Twitter's unique ability to unite people. “The interpretation is that the bluebird represents freedom and independence.”
The change of the logo and branding to X as Elon Musk took over was a rapid changeover and it didn’t help that many people weren't happy with the change. Compared to the Twitter logo the X logo used mainly black colouring with a white X in the middle. It was different from the colorful and unique branding that represented the culture of the app. The new rebranding didn’t signify much about the app itself. “Despite the backlash, Musk has made no indications he’ll reverse the decision — for now, he’s doubled down on the rebrand, removing the rest of the Twitter name and bluebirds,” said the BBC.
A quick changeover of branding is something that can pull an audience away from the brand and in the worst case people will completely pull away from the brand due to a lack of nostalgia or recognizability towards it. A slower brand change however can work well for an audience to slowly get used to a new branding. Making an audience more accustomed slowly causes less damage than doing a very fast change. Mass marketing of this change while rebranding can also make the audience understand the change.
Many people after the X rebranding jumped to Threads which soon popped up as a competitor after Twitter had changed to X. Threads looked very similar to X however it was simpler and that's what drew people to Threads. The Threads logo represented the brand by incorporating the @ sign. “But Threads is a Rorschach test. It is open to interpretation,” stated Fast Company. This links back to what made the original Twitter logo so welcoming and iconic is that it represented the community of the app. Threads carries that over with making the logo up to interpretation which links to how different people with different interpretations populate Threads.
Audiences will look for brands that they recognize rather than accept a quick rebrand. Having a lack of identity can make a brand feel less recognisable so trying to bend the brand to do everything can make the identity that people were used to feel lost and make that audience leave. This can affect money coming into the app and advertising the brand itself. Having an iconic logo that has a message can create synergy between the brand and its marketing. Simple can be better and when it comes to branding that is the best option.
The app built controversy among users of Twitter making them leave on mass. A slower changing of the branding could’ve softened the blow of this however this was not what ended up happening. This meant that there ended up being people who still refer to X as Twitter. “For now, X is a rebranded Twitter — but the company on Sunday revealed plans to offer users a one-stop shop for many of their online needs.” Quotes ABC News. This reveals Elon's future for X but it also links to a lack of identity that X now has. Apps are better to bring in an audience with an identity…X had sadly lost the identity it once had under Twitter.
