A recent article on Fast Company’s design page, hosts an article: “The Secret To Apple’s Long-Term Success?“.
Their simple answer to what it is? It [Apple] always prepares for the future. They design to over-haul and innovate. Never to just “upgrade“. Innovation is “to renew or change”. It is not just part of an offsite strategy retreat. It is the past, present and future of everything.
Apple does this. That’s why they are the largest technology company in the world.
But there is good news, like all Apple’s outputs, their is a sleek, simple to use, strategy & philosophy that is replicable on the open market. Real challenge is the courage to use it, and the passion to stay committed. Thank Mr. Brendan ” Getting It Done” Calder.
Three rules keep Apple on the design super- highway.
1, Design Sideways
“Once everyone was good and comfortable with that paradigm, it retrofitted OS X Lion with the same design under the name Launchpad, thereby reinventing the desktop app-launching model once again.”
The Apple mantra is to never stop innovating. It is part of the daily operating model, and culture. Not an “offsite retreat”, with a select group, and little execution paralysis. Design Sideways is a mantra of doing more than “tweaks” to product, service & experience. As the market competes on price, resulting in price-wars, Apple leverages fundamental game theory. It keeps a singular focus on only 2 or 3 key initiatives. It is all about experience, fueled by industry & business benchmarks, through the design of exceptional products & services.
2, Design for the Future.
“Apple had to make us love digital music through iTunes before it could make us love an iconic but feature-weak MP3 player that put it to good use.”
Apple’s differentiation has been both an exceptional product, in look, feel & operation, and top-level service. A powerful combination. However, it’s product is not vastly superior. Couple it with the Apple experience, and that, is a competitive juggernaut.
”It [Apple] had to teach us to love gestural interfaces on our phones before we could fall in love with a touchscreen tablet. Build the stairs and we will climb.”
Along with product & service design, Apple has succeeded by embracing, educating and collaborating with its customers. They are routinely tapped for service and product ideas, and are offered complimentary training and education so as to better leverage, and yes love, Apple products.
Consumer loyalty, is a function of emotional commitment. Structure an interdependent bond between a product and experience, and the target consumer will be loyal. Authentically so.
3, Untethering.
“Apple succeeds by untethering itself from the binds of what’s possible now and catching the tailwind of its own infinity-and-beyond vision of the future.”
At first glance, one might be lead to believe this refers to 3G, and thus un-tethered, connection. Close. But more a good example, of the other meaning here.
Apple’s people succeed through their thought style. Rather than asking “what is”, they focus each opportunity (challenge) with “what could be“? Apple lives, breathes, eats this 24/7. It’s not a mission statement. It’s not even really posted or documented. But it’s there. You feel when (Steve) Jobs takes the stage. You feel when you visit a Genius Bar. Ideas, and the people behind them, are indulged to grow in foreseen directions.
This lack of direction is indicative of a new “space” emerging between art and design. One that has less end-focus on output then design, but still more tools and context than art. Apple is creating a new strategic area.
Some love touch screen technology over the QWERTY, just as QWERTY by thumb was a foreign concept in 1996 (a.k.a. Blackberry).
The only constant, really is change (Heraclitus). Apple succeeds in staying in the top- spot, by constantly re-inventing it. The design for the future, constantly and without limits.
