Facebook Made a Subtle but Powerful Design Change

A few weeks ago, several media outlets wrote about the new Facebook logo that included a slight font change. While that news is cool for typeface enthusiasts, an even bigger but subtler design shift arrived to Facebook six months ago when the Friends icon changed. The woman now stands in front of the man instead of behind him.

In a blog post published on July 7 on Medium, Facebook design manger Caitlin Winner wrote about what it took to implement the new look. First, she noticed the original female icon had a little "chip" in her shoulder to make space for a male icon to be placed in front of her. "I assumed no ill intentions, just a lack of consideration but as a lady with two robust shoulders, the chip offended me," she wrote.

So Winner took matters into her own hands and not only removed the chip from the woman, but also gave her a shorter bob haircut. She also redesigned the male icon's hair and the Group icon so that the woman now stands in front of the two men (see below). The tweaks to the Friends and Group icons probably went unnoticed by most users, but they make all the difference. Just look at the top right of your own Facebook home page if you haven't already. It should be noted that Winner considered placing the man and woman side by side, but for design reasons, chose to the lead with the woman, who is slightly smaller than the man.

"As a woman, educated at a women's college, it was hard not to head into the symbolism of the current icon; the woman was quite literally in the shadow of the man, she was not in a position to lean in," she wrote. Winner won't stop looking for these small issues either. "I try to question all icons, especially those that feel most familiar," she added.

While these changes might seem small in the grander scheme of things, especially considering Facebook released its latest dismal diversity report, it is a step in the right direction. If the current, male-dominated tech culture is to make advances, small updates to logos and icons help wake up designers and engineers who wouldn't think about what it means in a larger context. Be sure to read Winner's full Medium post and maybe even spot other design changes that you wish would happen across other popular sites.