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Slack’s design is not secret sauce(medium.com)

over 8 years ago from Ian Goode, Designer & Developer at Axonista

  • Sacha GreifSacha Greif, over 8 years ago

    Saying that a product succeeded because of its design feels scary, because it implies that a product might conversely not succeed because its design isn't up to par.

    And maybe you don't want that pressure as a designer, so it's easier to say that design is just one element among many others.

    I don't think we should let that scare us though. If MetaLab wants to make the case that Slack succeeded in large part because of its design (as far as I can tell they never said it succeeded only because of its design), more power to them.

    5 points
    • Joel CalifaJoel Califa, over 8 years ago

      I was having this conversation with another designer a few days ago and he said something interesting. "Secret Sauce" is actually the perfect term for this. A secret sauce isn't the only thing in the dish. The secret sauce on its own isn't really a meal. It's the hard-to-capture thing that elevates the dish to new heights.

      I disagreed with Andrew's initial article as it focused mostly on shallow, face value things. But given some time to think, I kind of agree that the design went a long way to turn Slack into what it is today.

      The brand alone makes me so happy every time I see it.

      7 points
      • Chris Aalid, over 8 years ago

        A secret sauce isn't the only thing in the dish. The secret sauce on its own isn't really a meal. It's the hard-to-capture thing that elevates the dish to new heights.

        Very well said.

        1 point
      • Aaron DavisAaron Davis, over 8 years ago

        Completely agree. Oftentimes design isn't the "secret sauce". It was in this case.

        0 points