Uber’s new logo: swipe right or left?

Feb 2: Uber announces its new logo and app icons

Feb 2-3: Internet freaks out, mostly over the app icons, which I mistakenly refer to as “logo”

Feb 3, a.m.: I find out about this news

Feb 3, 4pm: I whip out my dusty Math & Stats degree, and start the process of super precise statistical hypothesis testing.

Step 1: State the hypotheses

Null Hypothesis, H₀: Uber’s new logo is not ugly. Swipe rights > 50%

Alternative Hypothesis, H_A: Uber’s new logo is ugly. Swipe rights < 50% (Claim)

Step 2: Set the criteria for a decision

If H₀ < 50%, reject H_0. 

If H₀ > 50%, then fail to reject H_0.

I.e. if < 50% of folks swipe right on Uber’s new logo, there is enough evidence to suggest that Uber’s new logo is ugly.

Step 3: Collect data

• Create a Facebook account for Uber’s new logo √
• Create a Tinder account for Uber’s new logo √
• Tinder account gets flagged within 2 hours √

But wait! What about my messages? I didn’t get to screenshot them yet!

I quickly found a desktop app, Tinder++. The swiping page totally didn’t load – maybe because my account was under review – but I managed to retrieve some of my messages. The 2 other assholes must have blocked or deleted me.

Fine, don’t engage, Nicholas. The only conversation I had went something like this:

Guy (old man): So you’re a taxi service?

Me: No, I’m Uber’s new logo – you like?

Guy: So, what do you do?

Me: I aid and promote instant public recognition of Uber.

Guy: What does it represent?

Me: My colours and patterns represent the human side of

No reply. Or I didn’t see it before losing access to my account.

But I didn’t get to finish my joke 😠 It was supposed to go:

Guy: Of?

Me: Sorry, I fell asleep

Anyway, FINE Tinder, you’re not the only dating app out there. Next, I downloaded local Singapore dating app Paktor. But they smart:That was when I had a grand total of 0 friends on Facebook. (I now have 2 pending friend requests!)

Then I downloaded OkCupid.

For both Tinder and OkCupid, I tried to make the sample size as big as possible.

For Tinder, I had no choice but to identify with a gender, so I picked female, but chose to be matched with both males and females, of the widest age range possible: 18-55+, and the largest distance possible: 160km.

For OkCupid, I had a bazillion options:

Again, I tried to make it such that I, Uber’s new logo, would reach the widest audience i.e. by being general and all-encompassing.

I made the most basic profile, containing minimal info.

“Never” was auto-selected for Drugs.

Yet, I got 32 likes, and all these messages.

I mean, funthingsthecat & feeder2395, did you really want to make the acquaintance of a logo? Or do you not visit people’s profiles before messaging them?

I got more engagement (likes, messages) on OkCupid than Tinder. This was the longest and most meaningful conversation I had:

He self-corrected stuck to struck. I had to resist the urge to tell him that it’s actually strike*. I stopped replying because I got bored. Here’s another:

And another:

Step 4: Compute the test statistic

Tinder Test: I swiped right on all 100 swipes that you’re allocated every 12 hours. I got 6 matches. So, swipe rights = 6%, which is < 50%, so, reject H₀: Uber’s new logo is not ugly.

(Though who knows, maybe these folks were swiping right so fast and aimlessly, like I, that they swiped right by accident)

OkCupid Test: Not sure how many people I liked and am too lazy to count. But I’d ballpark 100. I received 32 likes, and 3 mutual likes. So swipe rights = 3%, which is again < 50%, so H₀: Uber’s new logo is not ugly is rejected.

Step 5: Make a decision

Since is H₀ rejected in both tests, there is enough evidence to suggest H_A: Uber’s new logo is ugly.

Note: let’s see how long it takes before my Facebook and OkCupid accounts get flagged as well.