One Blog Explains Why Macs “Just Feel Right”
Apparently, it’s all in the design, and in the design process. Technology Review takes the time to walk us through the Apple design process, revealing why Macs really do “just feel right”. Most of the meat of the design reveal is in the end of the article but it is worth a read all the way through. Some highlights:Â
Even in the early 1980s, Rolston says, “Jobs wanted to elevate Apple by using design.” Jobs, he says, not only cared personally about design but saw that it could be a way to differentiate his company’s products from the PCs of the day, which often looked little evolved from hobbyist boxes. Ken Campbell, a codesigner of the Apple Lisa, was quoted in Kunkel’s AppleDesign as saying that Jobs wanted Apple to be what Olivetti was in the 1970s: “an undisputed leader in industrial design.”
Further into the article, we read:
Jobs and Frog Design wanted “zero-draft” molding, which yields perfectly perpendicular sides but costs more. No other computer manufacturer at the time was using zero-draft molding, which helped give Apple’s products a distinctive look. Also, the more-precise manufacturing process meant that the cases of Apple computers could fit more tightly around the internal components, saving plastic, packaging material, and shipping costs.
Apple has delivered this incredible attention to detail to its customers from the beginning, in both hardware and software design. When users say they find the Apple and it’s interface “gorgeous” and “intuitive”, they aren’t kidding. In many ways, Apple was the first computer to design software that was ergonomic to use, and hardware that was sleek and elegant. Over time, Apple has continued to innovate in design bringing us the “Lifesaver” iMac line, infusing bright colors and a small footprint with eye catching design and single unit functionality, then the iMac “Lantern” look, with an even smaller footprint and stunning thin design.
What’s more, he adds, the company keeps its eyes open for new manufacturing possibilities, no matter how obscure.
The push to innovate comes from the top – Steve Jobs has a standing policy for his design teams to be hands on from concept to completion, even as far as the manufacturing floor:
Brunner estimates that today Apple spends 15 to 20 percent of its industrial-design time on concept–far more than most other computer companies–and the rest on implementation. He says that Apple rides herd on manufacturers, sending design-team members to factories for weeks at a time to see what can be done and to push manufacturers to find new solutions. If the designers see a true innovation, they can integrate it into their designs and check the quality of execution at the point of manufacture.
“That’s why it’s perfect,” says Brunner, “and the reason this is getting done is because Steve Jobs is saying, ‘Do it.’”
Jobs eliminated a lot of the democratic, “design by committee” that other companies face as well:
“Critical to Apple’s success in design is the way Jobs brought focus and discipline to the product teams,” ÂNorman says. “[Jobs] had a single, cohesive image of the final product and would not allow any deviation, no matter how promising a new proposed feature appeared to be, no matter how much the team complained. Other companies are more democratic, listening to everyone’s opinions, and the result is bloat and a lack of cohesion.
All in all this article is a complete look at a complex process that has kept apple in the forefront of design innovation for years. I highly recommend reading the full piece by clicking the link below.
Read the full article on Technology Review’s site by clicking here.
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[tags]Apple Design, Apple Lisa, Steve Jobs, Industrial Design, Mac Design, Just Feels Right, Apple Innovative, The Mac Look And Feel[/tags]
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