14 DAY TRIAL // Back when Steve Jobs was running the show at Apple, it was no mystery that the company was running like a big startup, not because it was having trouble evolving, but because Jobs wanted things that way. Under Tim Cook, not much has changed, according to the company’s designer.
In a rare interview with the NY Times’ Bits blog, Apple’s UX and design chief speaks openly about the times when Steve Jobs was around.
Asked if anything has changed in the company’s design process after Jobs’ death in 2011, Ive says, “Innovation at Apple has always been a team game. It has always been a case where you have a number of small groups working together. The industrial design team is a very small team. We’ve worked together, most for 15 or 20 years.”
Ive’s answer echoes an All Things D interview with Steve Jobs years ago when he revealed to Walt Mossberg (then on the WSJ’s payroll) that Apple ran like a startup. The product was the primary focus, not the company or anyone’s ego.
Ive further notes, “That’s a fairly typical story here: Creative teams are small and very focused. One of the underlying characteristics is being inquisitive and being curious. Some of those personal attributes and hallmarks haven’t changed at all.”
Focus on the product is paramount at Apple, as Ive stresses on:
“One of the values of things I learned absolutely directly from Steve was the whole issue of focus. What are we focusing on: focus on product. I wish I could do a better job in communicating this truth here, which is when you really are focused on the product, that’s not a platitude. When that truly is your reason for coming into the studio, is just to try to make the very best product you can, when that is exclusive of everything else, it’s remarkable how insignificant or unimportant a lot of other stuff becomes. Titles or organizational structures, that’s not the lens through which we see our peers.”
In the interview, the British designer all but confirms that something big is just around the corner.
Asked whether it’s hard to be patient while everyone is clamoring for the next iDevice, Ive reveals “It is hard for us all to be patient. It was hard for Steve. It is hard for Tim. At any point in time, working on something, it’s always hard to just keep focusing on the product. One of the things different between us and some of our competitors is we just focus on the product, developing good products.”
The Cupertino technology titan is widely expected to unleash a plethora of new devices this year, including the elusive wrist-worn iWatch that tracks your health and integrates with medical equipment while also displaying things like email and text messages, perhaps even FaceTime calls.