Former Apple designer dispels myths about Steve Jobs, corporate culture

Posted:
in General Discussion edited May 2015
Ex-Apple senior designer and user experience evangelist Mark Kawano gives a peek behind the curtain of Cupertino's inner workings in an interview with Fast Company, dispelling four myths regarding the company's design studio and the reputation of cofounder Steve Jobs.


Mark Kawano, former Apple designer and creator of visual storytelling app Storehouse.
Source: Fast Company


Drawing on seven years of experience at Apple designing products like Aperture and iPhone, then later as a UX evangelist, Kawano shed light on how the company is able to churn out the innovative designs now synonymous with the Apple brand. In an interview with Fast Company, Kawano said he wanted to debunk myths surrounding Cupertino's design process.

The first target: Apple's design team. Kawano said there is a misconception that Apple is able to product high-quality, intricately detailed products because it has the best designers and design process.

"It's actually the engineering culture, and the way the organization is structured to appreciate and support design," Kawano said. "Everybody there is thinking about UX and design, not just the designers. And that's what makes everything about the product so much better...much more than any individual designer or design team."

At Apple, instead of having to deal with infighting and corporate bureaucracy, designers are able to spend their time on the task at hand. More interesting is how the company makes hires. Kawano feels almost everyone at Apple "thinks like a designer," each contributing to a common well-designed end product.

Second on Kawano's hit list is the myth that Apple has an inordinately large number of specialized designers working on various projects. When he was with the company, design teams consisted of roughly 100 people for core products, significantly less than other big names in the industry. Kawano conceded that Apple may be expanding these groups as part of a corporate reshuffling post-Steve Jobs.

Also discussed was Apple's attention to detail, which some believe is built into a rote design process. Kawano echoes previous reports that some of the most memorable and innovative details, like a screen shake when an iPhone user enters an incorrect password, are created during a designer or engineer's down time.

"It's almost impossible to come up with really innovative things when you have a deadline and schedule," he said.

Steve Jobs


Finally, Kawano dished on Steve Jobs, saying the late Apple cofounder's reputation of being passionate to the point of frightening is misunderstood. What Jobs wanted was the "best thing" and expected those working around him to want the same.

"He had trouble understanding people who didn't want that same thing and wondered why they'd be working for him if that was the case," Kawano said. "I think Steve had a very low tolerance for people who didn't care about stuff."

Although Kawano did not regularly interact with Jobs, he said the tech guru was "super accessible."

"That was interesting too, he was super demanding...but when it came to other things, he wanted to be very democratic, and to be treated like everyone else. And he was constantly struggling with those roles."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 48
    mutoneonmutoneon Posts: 51member
    I really do miss Steve Jobs.
  • Reply 2 of 48
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mutoneon View Post



    I really do miss Steve Jobs.

     

    I wonder if Microsoft fans miss the other Steve as well.

  • Reply 3 of 48
    feynmanfeynman Posts: 1,087member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mutoneon View Post



    I really do miss Steve Jobs.

     

    Having actually met the guy a couple times when I worked at Apple HQ and him being a large role model in my life, I do too. It's still difficult to believe he is no longer with us. 

  • Reply 4 of 48
    plovellplovell Posts: 826member
    Quote:



    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post

     

     

    I wonder if Microsoft fans miss the other Steve as well.


    I am not sure if "miss" is the right word here. But I am sure that they notice his absence.

  • Reply 5 of 48
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Originally Posted by plovell View Post

    I am not sure if "miss" is the right word here.

     

    As in “with tomatoes on the way out.”

  • Reply 6 of 48
    bdkennedy1bdkennedy1 Posts: 1,459member
    I'm the same way. If you don't care, then you're wasting your time and mine. You're fired.
  • Reply 7 of 48
    lkrupp wrote: »
    I wonder if Microsoft fans miss the other Steve as well.

    Yeah, like, "What happened to that festering boil on my ass..?"

    Speaking of Festering...

    700
  • Reply 8 of 48
    suddenly newtonsuddenly newton Posts: 13,819member
    And this, [@]AZREOSpecialist[/@], is why Apple doesn't have a "VP of Innovation": because everyone "ideates" and everyone innovates. It's not Jony Ive or Tim Cook's job to be the most innovative person in the room. It's in the culture.
  • Reply 9 of 48
    christopher126christopher126 Posts: 4,366member
    mutoneon wrote: »
    I really do miss Steve Jobs.
    Bro, me too. Nice thought. :) He was one of my heros. Along, with Muhammad Ali, Ayrton Senna, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and mick jagger. Best.
  • Reply 10 of 48
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    feynman wrote: »
    Having actually met the guy a couple times when I worked at Apple HQ...

    you lucky son of a....
  • Reply 11 of 48
    aegeanaegean Posts: 164member
    I miss Steve Jobs as well. In my opinion, Apple will never be the same, no matter who is driving the company. Don't know whether it will be better or worst in the future, after Steve, but companies need to make tough decisions, and that only Steve had guts to make. I personally did like his low tolerance behaviour when it comes to sacrificing on quality of Apple's product.
  • Reply 12 of 48
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,901moderator
    feynman wrote: »
    Having actually met the guy a couple times when I worked at Apple HQ and him being a large role model in my life, I do too. It's still difficult to believe he is no longer with us. 

    Funny, I miss Richard Feynman.
  • Reply 13 of 48
    desuserigndesuserign Posts: 1,316member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post

    I wonder if Microsoft fans miss the other Steve as well.


     

    The "other Steve?"

    Who?

     

    /s

  • Reply 14 of 48
    desuserigndesuserign Posts: 1,316member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bdkennedy1 View Post

    I'm the same way. If you don't care, then you're wasting your time and mine. You're fired.

     

    Me too.

    If I were in a position to fire anyone, that is.

    Seriously, there's nothing more annoying than working on a project with people who are not committed to excellence. I can take many of the initial bumps in the road that is a team project—split attention, naiveté, initial ignorance of the situation, confusion, etc. Every member of a team has their strength and weaknesses. But once we all get settled in and start on the project, everyone better be committed and making a full effort.

  • Reply 15 of 48
    hametahameta Posts: 79member
    [B][I][SIZE=4][COLOR=#09c]"It's actually the engineering culture, and the way the organization is structured to appreciate and support design," Kawano said. "Everybody there is thinking about UX and design, not just the designers. And that's what makes everything about the product so much better...much more than any individual designer or design team."[/COLOR][/SIZE][/I][/B]


    [B][I][SIZE=4]Well Said !

    That's WHAT DIFFERENCIATES Apple from Other Internet BUGGIES Such As Google !!!

    In that Context I Recommend Apple to Buy This Company instead of " Beats " by Less Than A Fiftieth Money They're Going to Spend, Not Because I'm JAPANESE.[COLOR=blue][/COLOR][/SIZE][/I][/B]


    http://gigaom.com/2014/05/13/a-japanese-startup-unveils-a-long-lasting-and-safer-battery-made-from-carbon/



    [IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/43564/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]

    [IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/43565/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]

    [IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/43566/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]
  • Reply 16 of 48
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    steve jobs was always accessible and willing to talk, whether in the cafe, building one or just crossing paths. Same way at NeXT.
  • Reply 17 of 48
    hametahameta Posts: 79member
    steve jobs was always accessible and willing to talk, whether in the cafe, building one or just crossing paths. Same way at NeXT.

    We NEVER FORGET He Usted to Respond to e-mail Asking from Unknown Person Diligently.
  • Reply 18 of 48
    desuserigndesuserign Posts: 1,316member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post

    The first target: Apple's design team. Kawano said there is a misconception that Apple is able to product high-quality, intricately detailed products because it has the best designers and design process.



    "It's actually the engineering culture, and the way the organization is structured to appreciate and support design," Kawano said. "Everybody there is thinking about UX and design, not just the designers. And that's what makes everything about the product so much better...much more than any individual designer or design team."



    At Apple, instead of having to deal with infighting and corporate bureaucracy, designers are able to spend their time on the task at hand. More interesting is how the company makes hires. Kawano feels almost everyone at Apple "thinks like a designer," each contributing to a common well-designed end product.

     

    This is a great point.

    I have to say I get tired of always hearing X & Y about Jony Ive (no offense to him.) He's frankly very lucky to get to work at a company that gets and appreciates design. It's also a company where the head of design has access to the top of the executive suite. Most important of all, everyone at Apple gets and appreciates design. The design process isn't an after thought, it's an integral to all activities right from the start. As a designer I can assure you, there is no other company like this.

    It's also good to hear a designer singing the praises of engineers. We all hear about how Apple products are toys, etc. The fact is Apple has the best engineers in the business. An they are good enough to know the design is the glue that joins the viability of engineering, profitability, and desirability that makes Apple products great. Everyone at Apple knows that whatever they do, It has to satisfy all three factors. Most places only look at one or two of them.

  • Reply 19 of 48
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    desuserign wrote: »
    This is a great point.
    I have to say I get tired of always hearing X & Y about Jony Ive (no offense to him.) He's frankly very lucky to get to work at a company that gets and appreciates design. It's also a company where the head of design has access to the top of the executive suite. Most important of all, everyone at Apple gets and appreciates design. The design process isn't an after thought, it's an integral to all activities right from the start. As a designer I can assure you, there is no other company like this.
    It's also good to hear a designer singing the praises of engineers. We all hear about how Apple products are toys, etc. The fact is Apple has the best engineers in the business. An they are good enough to know the design is the glue that joins the viability of engineering, profitability, and desirability that makes Apple products great. Everyone at Apple knows that whatever they do, It has to satisfy all three factors. Most places only look at one or two of them.
    More and more companies are becoming design focused. Big companies like Pepsi, P&G, 3M, General Motors,etc. either have Chief Design Officers or VPs of Design in senior positions. I don't think Ive being part of the c-suite is luck anymore. It might have been when Jobs came back to Apple and plucked his team out of obscurity, but not any more. Plus from everything I've read about Apple the lines between designers and engineers are blurred. A number of Apple industrial designers are listed as inventors on patents along side mechanical engineers.
  • Reply 20 of 48
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    steve jobs was always accessible and willing to talk, whether in the cafe, building one or just crossing paths. Same way at NeXT.
    Did he really fire somebody in an elevator or is that an urban myth?
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