How to Design Like Apple

OneMinute MBA provides a video that explains five basic concepts to Apple’s design.  It doesn’t give you detailed, step-by-step instructions of the rules of design, but instead outlines basic ideas that you can apply to your own design.

Apple has been a leader in every area they have ventured in hardware, from computers to phones to tablets.

The reason for their success is how they bring the concepts to life.  Here is a breakdown of the five concepts outlined in the OneMinute MBA video.

1.  Don’t skimp on sections of a product that the customer doesn’t see.  Design is all encompassing, according to the video.  Every aspect of the product is important.
2. Every employee must understand what each product is, how it works, and what the benefits are to the customer.
3. Good design is created by people that are motivated by failures instead of beaten down by them.  They are also optimistic about change instead of frightened by it.
4. Create a design that s simply beautiful instead of being loaded with bells and whistles.  Focus on the function rather than a bunch of add-ons.  You can easily see this carried out in the simplicity of the products that Apple designs.
5. The design shouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb but should be an extension of the customer. It shouldn’t be obvious but a part of who the customer is.

Steve Jobs was a known perfectionist who never settled for less than the best for his products.  Engineers and designers at Apple with through hundreds of revisions before the product was ready for the customer.  That determination paid off by creating a brand that was more recognizable and coveted than any other.  Apple has been the leader in every category where it has a product while other companies have sought to copy the Apple magic.  But no one else has it.

Episode 16 – How to Design Like Apple from Minute MBA by OnlineMBA.com on Vimeo.

[Image via wallpapermania]