4 ms·

Airbnb Logo Redesign Survey: More People See Hearts Than Naughty Parts

34 points by ckelly 12y ago

minimaxir 12y ago
The blog post fails to mention the sample size, which according to the downloaded data, is 164 respondants. Additionally, only 34 respondents (20%) actually said heart (the most popular word in the dataset), so there's a lot of variation in interpretation.
- ckelly 12y ago
  Hi Max, Survata co-founder here. 164 respondents is actually a fine sample size for a quick read on qualitative feedback. Even if this had been a quantitative study, that would represent a 7.7% margin of error at a 95% confidence level. Counter-intuitively, you don't always need thousands of respondents to measure an audience's behavior!
  - minimaxir 12y ago
    The calculation (1.96 / 2) / sqrt(164) for the margin of error isn't applicable in this case because it's not a Bernoulli pass/fail event, and is instead an open-ended question. If you framed the question as "Do you think this is a sex object? Yes/No" then the margin of error might be more applicable. I count 10/164 (6%) who did: stating that 94% of people don't think AirBNB's logo is a sex object is a much better lede.
    - ckelly 12y ago
      Correct. I had tried to clarify the margin of error calculation wasn't relevant here by saying "Even if this had been a quantitative study"...sorry if that wasn't clear.
    - mixologic 12y ago
      I count 17 that classified it as a sex object. Its worth noting that this survey was sampled after it was released to the public and a controversy had already stirred. I was impressed that one respondent said "ouija board planchette". The open ended nature of "what do you see" is totally questionable. The 'do you think this is a sex object' is a much better way to ask that question as even though its leading, its also the kind of thing you cant 'unsee'. "Does this look like balls?" It does now that you mention it, yes.
- deleted 12y ago
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deleted 12y ago
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- pierlux 12y ago
  Google Image Search is your friend! http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/hosting-a-super-bowl-2014-party-consider-the-snackadium-9096332.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/hosting-a-...
userbinator 12y ago
I see what looks like a place marker embedded in the letter A, which makes perfect sense for Airbnb. Maybe that's what they were intending? ...and after staring at the logo for a few more minutes, I still can't see any more resemblance to genitalia than the letter A.
crystaln 12y ago
One might imagine naughty parts from just about any logo. The Y Combinator logo looks like cleavage to me.
- model500 12y ago
  wait. what are you implying it is then?
- BerislavLopac 12y ago
  Actually, it's more like a lady's inner thighs... (y) ;-)
sosuke 12y ago
It looked like a bent paper clip airplane, I can't see the genitalia at all.
model500 12y ago
this looks like it was designed with a spirograph back in 1970. also, it looks like kim kardashian's ass, or a paperclip
jerhinesmith 12y ago
When I look at the clean logo used in the survey, I think more paperclip or 'A'. When this was announced on their blog, however, a hand-drawn image was displayed prominently -- an image which looks significantly more like a "butt" than the rendered version. Referenced image: http://i.imgur.com/XwKTmgq.png http://i.imgur.com/XwKTmgq.png
- deleted 12y ago
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jrs235 12y ago
What about "Automation Anywhere's logo (https://www.automationanywhere.com/ https://www.automationanywhere.com/ )" Edit: fixed url
- jeremyriney 12y ago
  Yeah, this uncanny similarity is more disconcerting than the "lady parts" people see.
- userbinator 12y ago
  There needs to be an easy way to search for existing logos by image similarity... the USPTO has an extensive categorisation method for trademarks ( http://tess2.uspto.gov/tmdb/dscm/index.htm http://tess2.uspto.gov/tmdb/dscm/index.htm ) but what's really needed is something more visual. Using Google on a greyscale version of Airbnb's logo didn't yield anything geometrically similar.
  - BerislavLopac 12y ago
    Looks like a possible add-on feature for http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/ http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/
  - srv23 12y ago
    There is; it's called a trademark search, and it's a matter of public record: "The trademark examining attorney has searched the Office’s database of registered and pending marks and has found no conflicting marks that would bar registration..." (http://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn86160387&docId=OOA20140317162306#docIndex=1&page=1 http://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn86160387&docId...) ~The USPTO's response to this Jan 8, 2014 filing: http://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn86160387&docId=APP20140111083929#docIndex=5&page=1 http://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn86160387&docId...
x0x0 12y ago
People claiming they see vagina or butt in that picture remind me of the tools claiming they'd always think of tampons or periods when apple named the ipad [1]. [1] http://www.fastcompany.com/1528988/apples-ipad-name-not-first-choice-women-period http://www.fastcompany.com/1528988/apples-ipad-name-not-firs...
ryandvm 12y ago
So... this material is legit, but the Malaysian crash discussions I kept trying to read earlier today were flagged into oblivion. Got it.
ericd 12y ago
One issue to keep in mind is that while people might initially not see the naughty interpretation, there's oftentimes a "cannot unsee" effect with these kinds of things. Happened with a company I used to work at with their logo redesign.
viggity 12y ago
I created a quick, interactive visualization of the survey data here: https://www.machete.io/board/view/airbnb_logo_by_survata/50fd3a61-b943-4860-9f71-571f1d68359f https://www.machete.io/board/view/airbnb_logo_by_survata/50f... You can spot some interesting (but probably not surprising) insights like there were one and half times as many women who responded as men (96 to 68), but there were twice as many men as women who saw something "sexual" (11 to 6). You can play around with it and see if you spot any other interesting tidbits.
BerislavLopac 12y ago
Funny thing is that the heart symbol actually was naughty parts originally... ;-) http://www.cracked.com/article_19909_6-famous-symbols-that-dont-mean-what-you-think_p2.html http://www.cracked.com/article_19909_6-famous-symbols-that-d...
jack-r-abbit 12y ago
Haters gonna hate. Yesterday I read an article about AirBnB from someone that had clearly gone off the rails. Taking less issue with the boobs/balls/vag image in the logo, she started off by ranting about how insensitive the white-male founders were for using the slogan "belong anywhere" because one way people “belonged” to other people was through chattel slavery. Another was through marriages that made women the property of their husbands. Seriously?

34 points by ckelly 12y ago

The blog post fails to mention the sample size, which according to the downloaded data, is 164 respondants. Additionally, only 34 respondents (20%) actually said heart (the most popular word in the dataset), so there's a lot of variation in interpretation.

ckelly 12y ago
Hi Max, Survata co-founder here. 164 respondents is actually a fine sample size for a quick read on qualitative feedback. Even if this had been a quantitative study, that would represent a 7.7% margin of error at a 95% confidence level. Counter-intuitively, you don't always need thousands of respondents to measure an audience's behavior!
- minimaxir 12y ago
  The calculation (1.96 / 2) / sqrt(164) for the margin of error isn't applicable in this case because it's not a Bernoulli pass/fail event, and is instead an open-ended question. If you framed the question as "Do you think this is a sex object? Yes/No" then the margin of error might be more applicable. I count 10/164 (6%) who did: stating that 94% of people don't think AirBNB's logo is a sex object is a much better lede.
  - ckelly 12y ago
    Correct. I had tried to clarify the margin of error calculation wasn't relevant here by saying "Even if this had been a quantitative study"...sorry if that wasn't clear.
  - mixologic 12y ago
    I count 17 that classified it as a sex object. Its worth noting that this survey was sampled after it was released to the public and a controversy had already stirred. I was impressed that one respondent said "ouija board planchette". The open ended nature of "what do you see" is totally questionable. The 'do you think this is a sex object' is a much better way to ask that question as even though its leading, its also the kind of thing you cant 'unsee'. "Does this look like balls?" It does now that you mention it, yes.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

pierlux 12y ago
Google Image Search is your friend! http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/hosting-a-super-bowl-2014-party-consider-the-snackadium-9096332.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/hosting-a-...

userbinator 12y ago

I see what looks like a place marker embedded in the letter A, which makes perfect sense for Airbnb. Maybe that's what they were intending? ...and after staring at the logo for a few more minutes, I still can't see any more resemblance to genitalia than the letter A.

crystaln 12y ago

One might imagine naughty parts from just about any logo. The Y Combinator logo looks like cleavage to me.

model500 12y ago
wait. what are you implying it is then?
BerislavLopac 12y ago
Actually, it's more like a lady's inner thighs... (y) ;-)

sosuke 12y ago

It looked like a bent paper clip airplane, I can't see the genitalia at all.

model500 12y ago

this looks like it was designed with a spirograph back in 1970. also, it looks like kim kardashian's ass, or a paperclip

jerhinesmith 12y ago

When I look at the clean logo used in the survey, I think more paperclip or 'A'. When this was announced on their blog, however, a hand-drawn image was displayed prominently -- an image which looks significantly more like a "butt" than the rendered version. Referenced image: http://i.imgur.com/XwKTmgq.png http://i.imgur.com/XwKTmgq.png

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

jrs235 12y ago

What about "Automation Anywhere's logo (https://www.automationanywhere.com/ https://www.automationanywhere.com/ )" Edit: fixed url

jeremyriney 12y ago
Yeah, this uncanny similarity is more disconcerting than the "lady parts" people see.
userbinator 12y ago
There needs to be an easy way to search for existing logos by image similarity... the USPTO has an extensive categorisation method for trademarks ( http://tess2.uspto.gov/tmdb/dscm/index.htm http://tess2.uspto.gov/tmdb/dscm/index.htm ) but what's really needed is something more visual. Using Google on a greyscale version of Airbnb's logo didn't yield anything geometrically similar.
- BerislavLopac 12y ago
  Looks like a possible add-on feature for http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/ http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/
- srv23 12y ago
  There is; it's called a trademark search, and it's a matter of public record: "The trademark examining attorney has searched the Office’s database of registered and pending marks and has found no conflicting marks that would bar registration..." (http://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn86160387&docId=OOA20140317162306#docIndex=1&page=1 http://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn86160387&docId...) ~The USPTO's response to this Jan 8, 2014 filing: http://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn86160387&docId=APP20140111083929#docIndex=5&page=1 http://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn86160387&docId...

x0x0 12y ago

People claiming they see vagina or butt in that picture remind me of the tools claiming they'd always think of tampons or periods when apple named the ipad [1]. [1] http://www.fastcompany.com/1528988/apples-ipad-name-not-first-choice-women-period http://www.fastcompany.com/1528988/apples-ipad-name-not-firs...

ryandvm 12y ago

So... this material is legit, but the Malaysian crash discussions I kept trying to read earlier today were flagged into oblivion. Got it.

ericd 12y ago

One issue to keep in mind is that while people might initially not see the naughty interpretation, there's oftentimes a "cannot unsee" effect with these kinds of things. Happened with a company I used to work at with their logo redesign.

viggity 12y ago

I created a quick, interactive visualization of the survey data here: https://www.machete.io/board/view/airbnb_logo_by_survata/50fd3a61-b943-4860-9f71-571f1d68359f https://www.machete.io/board/view/airbnb_logo_by_survata/50f... You can spot some interesting (but probably not surprising) insights like there were one and half times as many women who responded as men (96 to 68), but there were twice as many men as women who saw something "sexual" (11 to 6). You can play around with it and see if you spot any other interesting tidbits.

BerislavLopac 12y ago

Funny thing is that the heart symbol actually was naughty parts originally... ;-) http://www.cracked.com/article_19909_6-famous-symbols-that-dont-mean-what-you-think_p2.html http://www.cracked.com/article_19909_6-famous-symbols-that-d...

jack-r-abbit 12y ago

Haters gonna hate. Yesterday I read an article about AirBnB from someone that had clearly gone off the rails. Taking less issue with the boobs/balls/vag image in the logo, she started off by ranting about how insensitive the white-male founders were for using the slogan "belong anywhere" because one way people “belonged” to other people was through chattel slavery. Another was through marriages that made women the property of their husbands. Seriously?