Microsoft is testing new Office icons for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that drop their signature “W,” “E,” and “P” letters. The minimalist redesign, currently seen in iPhone preview apps, aims for simplicity but sacrifices instant visual recognition. Without letters, the icons blend into a sea of app symbols, making it harder to find the right one quickly.
Microsoft 365 is getting updated icons but the ones appearing on iPhone have a problem. The new icons (in the Testflight or preview apps) don’t have a letter as part of the design.
Here’s the new “W” less Word icon (center) compared to the existing Excel and PowerPoint icons.
And here’s all three new letter-less icons.
I think this is a bad move thought I can understand the thinking of the Microsoft design team. In iOS the text label appears under the icon so they might think the E W and P letters are redundant.
NO, NO and again NO!
Those letters are important visual clues to quickly tapping the correct icon. Without the letters, those icons blend into the mass of tiny icons.
The announcement of the new M365 designs doesn’t mention dropping the letters for the main Office apps. Other apps like Copilot, OneDrive and Defender already don’t have letters.
Hopefully these letter-less icons are just a trial in the preview apps and sanity will prevail in the end.
