What Apple Can Teach Us About Product Design
Apple is one of the worlds leading tech companies and has revolutionized the way in which design operates in the product lifecycle. From being founded in 1976 to becoming the world’s most valuable company in 2020, Apple has become a powerhouse of technology and has made a lasting impact on the world.
In celebration of Techtober and Apple’s release of the iPhone 12, I wanted to look into how Apple’s design approach has made Apple into the influential company it is today and what it can teach us about design. These are simply my thoughts combined with some interesting articles I found so I’d love to hear some of your thoughts about what you think Apple does well and what it doesn’t in the comments!
Consistent User Experience Across Generations
Over the years, despite all the different new innovations and interesting ideas that it has implemented into its products, Apple has maintained a consistent experience across generations of products.
By creating a consistent experience, over the years, Apple has been able to maintain a consistent mental model for the users. Jay Wright Forrester, a systems engineer and a previous professor at MIT, described mental models by stating “the image of the world around us, which we carry in our head, is just a model. Nobody in his head imagines all the world, government, or country. He has only selected concepts, and relationships between them, and uses those to represent the real system (Forrester, 1971). In the world of Product Design that might mean making a button consistent across pages or in Apple’s case, consistently using gestures or interactions in the same way across different generation iPhones. According to the Newson Newman Group, mental modles allow users to take interactions they are familiar with and use them to learn how to navigate other systems that have that same or similar interaction.
“There’s great inertia in users’ mental models: stuff that people know well tends to stick, even when it’s not helpful. This alone is surely an argument for being conservative and not coming up with new interaction styles.” — Newson Newman Group
This is one reason why some media outlets will criticize Apple for not innovating and why some might choose to leave the Apple ecosystem in search of something new. However, because Apple has made a fairly consistent design in its product over the years, they have created a unified and recognizable product that anyone can use whether one is using an extremely dated iPhone or the latest iPhone fresh out of the box. In addition, when you let your friends or family use your phone, they know exactly how to use it because the experience is the same across all iPhones.
Less is (Sometimes) More
Apple is known for including limited but well-designed features in its products and sometimes being late to adopt new features like widgets in iOS 14. This has allowed Apple to create simple and minimalistic experiences that are clear and easy to follow. While minimalistic designs don’t necessarily mean better experiences, Apple’s products are simplistic enough such that users can easily navigate its system without spending too much time figuring out how the system works.
One example that shows that Apple does simplicity well is through looking at another famous product, Adobe’s Photoshop. Photoshop is a leading and popular photo editor that many professionals use for their designs or projects. However, as seen in the image, Photoshop has a very complicated interface. While Photoshop is an extremely powerful tool that many people love, not everyone can use it immediately and most people have to get certification on Photoshop or take online courses before they can actually use Photoshop properly. Apple wouldn’t want this experience when its goal is to make it so that you can use your new iPhone or iPad the moment you open it from its packaging.
Conduct Extensive Research Before Launch
While not everyone has the money or time to do extensive research, Apple knows how powerful the user research process is.
Take the AirPods as an example. Before its official release in 2016, the AirPods had a considerably long history of user research and contemplation before launch. According to Apple Insider, “On March 29, 2011, Jorge S Fino filed for a patent for EarPod-like headphones that could work with or without wires. The patent wasn’t published until October 3, 2012, but then we could read that it specified that when the listening device is detached from the corded portion, a wireless signal that includes the audio signal is transmitted from the second part of the corded portion for a reception at the first part of the listening device.” Thus, it took five years for Apple to create a patent for an AirPods-like product and ultimately arrive at the hugely successful release of the Airpods in December 2016. (Read the full story here)
This type of extensive user research and the ability to explore different ideas allows Apple to create products that are enjoyable. Now even a huge company like Apple won’t know all the information on exactly how its products will perform. But making sure that its products run well by conducting research is important in Apple’s success. In addition, because Apple is very secretive over its product design process, Apple can explore new products that can fail without hurting the reputation of Apple overall.
Focus On What People Do and Not What People Say
One key reason that Apple has created a simple experience is through focusing on what people do and not what people say. Sometimes, when you’re conducting user research, a user might mention that they are having one problem or have a certain preference but when you go and observe their behavior, they might do something contrary to what they just said. This has to with how the brain works. According to Susan Weinschenk, a behavioral psychologist and author of 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People:
“We often like to think that we’re like Mr. Spock in Star Trek, and very rational and logical. But we’re not. And, if you want to really reach people, if you want to communicate with them, if you want to persuade them, you need to figure out how to talk to the unconscious part of their mind.”
While listening to the user is important and getting direct feedback from what the user experiences can help the product grow more user friendly, sometimes listening to what people say can be misleading because of how your brain makes decisions.
For example in the case of Apple, many people in the tech community have strong opinions about how even the iPhone 12 doesn’t have a 120Hz yet there are a countless number of flagship Android phones with 120Hz displays and other technological features. What critics don’t understand about design is that while they might think they need something, the behavior of the general user says otherwise. The average person will not notice whether one phone has a 120Hz display over the iPhone 12’s 60Hz display unless they have been explicitly looking for it and have become accustomed to noticing the differences. In addition, what people do care about and what actually sells for the average person is consistent battery life and the 120Hz display will take more energy than a 60Hz display. Thus while some people say they want a 120Hz display, the behavior of the general user chooses the 60Hz display iPhone which is known for having a great battery life they continue to purchase iPhones.
Takeaways
While every company does have its issues, they are successful for a reason. Apple’s success has influenced the way in which we interact with technology and has inspired new designers looking to create the next big thing. Thus learning from Apple’s success and its shortcomings can help us improve on our own designs and teach us how to create enjoyable user experiences.