Apple CEO John Ternus says a design choice earns its place if it improves the user's experience, even when the improvement is as small as making a device more enjoyable to use.
Ternus made the case in a video interview released October 20, which added design discussion to an earlier written interview. Asked how Apple separates a choice that improves a product from one that only grabs attention, he said teams work together to decide what makes a product better for users, and rule out ideas that are frivolous or distracting.
His whimsy example was an element of the iPhone Duo's inner display. He said it serves no functional purpose but can make the experience more satisfying. "Sometimes you just want a little whimsy," he said. Kids Cue was a different kind of example, one with a job to do. It shows Peanuts characters such as Snoopy on the outer screen to draw a child's attention toward the camera during a photo. Ternus said building a different kind of iPhone let Apple's teams explore ideas the new hardware made possible.
He applied the same test to AI. The technology opens ways to improve existing products and build new ones, he said, but users should be able to appreciate a feature without knowing AI is behind it. Personalized experiences, supported by access to information on the user's phone, are a particular focus.
The standard is flexible by design. "Better for the user" can justify a functional feature and an unexplained flourish alike, so it works as a judgment call rather than a rule. The examples he gave were ones that made it into a product, not ones that got cut.
He comes to the question as a mechanical engineer who says he has worked hand in hand with industrial designers since he started at Apple. A news report earlier this month said he has made design a major priority since becoming CEO in September, visiting the design studio several times a week.
The interview closed on what he wants to preserve. The opportunities in the products will change as new technologies arrive, he said, but the way Apple works should not. For a CEO a few weeks into the job, that defines continuity as a process rather than a product line.