RIP: Yahoo! Design closed down

14 February 2008

no_yhaus.jpg
an anonymous source just informed me the entire Yahoo! Design Innovation team (once coined yHaus) has been laid off, part of a closing-down of all innovation teams at Yahoo. in addition, their work has been completely removed from their original website. infosthetics has posted their work here & here, & luckily had stored some copies of their works locally.

infosthetics feels bad for the people involved. how does Yahoo! wants to increase their share price by firing creative, talented people? Google, Swivel, Many Eyes, Stamen: are you hiring?

update: download their movies while you can! follow this link & change the number at the end of the URL.

update II: this story got picked up: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. a confirmation was posted here.

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news . comments (11)

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comments

whaaat? that's horrible news. they were creating some really beautiful work. on the upside though, i am 100% sure that those who were laid off won't have any trouble finding jobs or other creative outlets.

nathan . 14 February 2008

It seems like a poison pill to me.

Anonymous Coward . 14 February 2008

it's inescapable that our society is focused on profit (or paths perceived to produce it) but we strongly encourage you creative talented folks to follow your heart and pursue your own dreams and values. If you do, there is no doubt you will succeed as you have already to be part of this elite group! Make this an opportunity to do even more!

Ron Koblin . 15 February 2008

happy valentines day to everyone

karina . 15 February 2008


I'll miss your shining faces in the office. Best of luck, and I'm certain your talents will land you in extraordinary circumstances in the future.

Ben Long . 15 February 2008

frog design in San Francisco is hiring!

Pete Petras . 15 February 2008

for those interested: this post has been confirmed here.

infosthetics . 15 February 2008

That is sad to hear. I was going to post a link about Yahoo! Design on my blog.

http://interactivemultimediatechnology.blogspot.com

Lynn Marentette . 17 February 2008

This is a real shame for Yahoo. I had the pleasure of working with these fellows, and can personality say that they are some of the most talented people I’ve known at Y.
My gut tells me yhaus was shut down largely because of being under other incompetent leadership, which was being axed during the layoffs. Its bad timing, and a real shame that they were never recognized for their potential. I will miss you guys, but I have no doubt you’ll find no problems in moving onto the next big thing!

hepp maccoy . 20 February 2008

I agree that all of the people doing design work were really talented, and the products they were producing were exciting and extraordinarily under-promoted by Yahoo. And from what I encountered first hand, I also agree that the management of their design group was incredibly incompotent. I think innovation is best found in the startups that end up getting gobbled by massive corporate entities such as Yahoo.

Aaron Siegel . 20 February 2008

Great stuff...

http://design.yahoo.com/_video/burst.mov
http://design.yahoo.com/_video/bookscape.mov
http://design.yahoo.com/_swf/growaplant.swf
http://design.yahoo.com/_video/iheshe.mov
http://design.yahoo.com/_video/answerscloud.mov
http://design.yahoo.com/_video/trips.mov
http://design.yahoo.com/_video/deliciousdna.mov
http://design.yahoo.com/_video/flickr.mov
http://design.yahoo.com/_video/traffic.mov

Jaacen . 23 February 2008

shop

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