Q&A: Susan Kare On Why Pinterest feels like Apple within the ’80s

The legendary Silicon Valley pixel dressmaker explains why she made Pinterest her first full-time job in many years.

August 19, 2015 remaining month, social bookmarking website Pinterest introduced a hiring coup: they have been bringing on Susan Kare, the legendary dressmaker behind the unique Mac’s icons and fonts, as a product design lead. even supposing Kare has spent many years contracting for Silicon Valley companies like Microsoft, subsequent, and fb, this will likely be Kare’s first full-time design place since her stint at Apple within the 1980s. So how did Pinterest woo her, what is going to she be working on, and what similarities do Pinterest and Apple share? We caught up with Kare on the telephone to find out.

you haven’t worked full-time for an organization for the reason that Apple. How did you come to join Pinterest?

i will be able to’t say I used to be actively on the lookout for a full-time job, however i’m all the time thinking about what to do next. a pal was greatly surprised I hadn’t met Bob Baxley, Pinterest’s design supervisor. we’ve the Apple connection in fashionable—Bob managed the design of the Apple online store for eight years. So I went in to satisfy him, and in an instant, I simply appreciated him. He instructed me: “i need Pinterest to be the perfect position for a dressmaker to work within the valley.” I also met the design staff, and it blew me away. it’s no longer enormous, nevertheless it’s mighty.

What does ‘highest position for a fashion designer to work in the Valley’ mean?

i feel what is articulated right here, and this strikes me as actual after I take into consideration my colleagues, is that Pinterest is on the lookout for in point of fact, really strong designers who are also good. They in point of fact use that word in the hiring process, good. it is simply refreshing . . .

I was once struck by way of the talent pool and spirit of collaboration, and saw the creative place of business as a metaphor for the product and firm. I also idea it could be enjoyable to sign up for an organization with about 600 folks—sufficiently small to be agile about design choices. and naturally, it truly appealed to me that some of the founders can be an extraordinarily arms-on inventive director.

As a dressmaker, i am already discovering that Pinterest is a superb location to work for the reason that product and culture is all about inspiring users. there’s an ongoing effort to expand the extraordinarily diverse staff of designers, and everybody is ready to focal point on a neighborhood of passion, and contribute as a part of a small staff made from designers, engineers, and product managers.

So what are you engaged on?

it is early, however i am working on the product design staff to support the core expertise of Pinterest. i am beginning out by using looking at things like the house feed and the dozens of icons with the goal of including which means and readability.

Icons seems like a natural fit.

Yeah, it can be a logical location for me to start, however i am additionally surely part of the product design crew as a complete, so i don’t really feel like my design input will probably be limited to that. but it’s nonetheless very early.

Do you see any similarities between Pinterest and Apple?

it is in point of fact onerous to match, however at Pinterest, i’m working workforce with a lot of people of various a long time, experiences, and disciplines in an agile team, which is similar to how I labored at Apple again in the day. it’s a excellent creative environment with just the correct amount of structure, which again appeals to me, hearkening again to Apple.

ultimately, although, what seems most similar to me is how user-first each corporations are? when we created the unique Mac, we made a in point of fact sincere effort to make a computer for the rest of us, and provides it a pleasant, available UI. I see the same factor here at Pinterest, the place our slogan is: “Put pinners first.” just like when we created the Mac, Pinterest is hanging a truly sturdy focal point on serious about the person at every stage in the design course of.