University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Design Like Apple
Book

Design Like Apple

Seven Principles For Creating Insanely Great Products, Services and Experiences

John Edson
Wiley, 2012
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Editorial Rating

8

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  • Applicable

Recommendation

The heartbeat of Apple’s success is deep reverence for design. The late CEO Steve Jobs had a vision for Apple that included using design to create “insanely great” products to wow customers and provide an exceptional user experience. That’s why people wait in line for days to be the first to own the newest iPhone or iPad. It’s also why the company is a runaway financial success. LUNAR president and designer John Edson examines the seven design precepts underlying Apple’s success and explains how to apply them to your business. Edson regales readers with first-hand experiences and provides an inside look into Apple. If Apple were to design a book, it would look like this beautiful volume, with its clean white cover, glossy stock and elegant typeface. getAbstract believes designers and business managers should embrace and learn from Edson’s report on Apple’s successful devotion to design.

Summary

“Design Like Apple”

Someone somewhere designed every product you see, touch and use. Today, business leaders are realizing the value of using design to differentiate their offerings and create a unique customer experience. From his earliest days at Apple, Steve Jobs instinctively understood that design was the magic door to creating “insanely great” products that would surprise and delight users. To this end, he embedded a reverence for design in Apple’s culture and constitution. Apple’s success rests on melding performance, purpose, refinement and beauty through thoughtful and focused design. Seven design principles shape Apple’s work:

1. “Design Makes All the Difference”

Design can differentiate your product or service from your competition. Products with an attractive, unique and user-friendly design garner the right kind of attention, engender customer loyalty and create an emotional connection.

To see this principle in action, compare Motorola’s and Apple’s approaches to cellphone development. Motorola’s corporate culture emphasized engineering innovation. When the company wanted to build on the success of its popular StarTAC flip phone by expanding...

About the Author

John Edson, president of the design company LUNAR, was on the design team for Apple’s first laptop and is a guest contributor to the Fast Company blog.

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