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Design Thinking & Innovation At Apple

As Apple ventured into new businesses and faced an ever-increasing number of fierce competitors, the
roots of its success puzzled many industry experts and technology pundits.
The company was not afraid to experiment outside its core markets. It built retail stores when
competitors were moving to direct sales and distribution models, and its products were rarely first to
market. There was, however, a surprising consistency in the way the company worked. Simply put, the
Apple Way was a set of principles with a deep commitment to great products and services at its core:

design thinking,
clear development strategy and execution,
CEO as chief innovator,
the rational courage to conduct bold business experiments.

Design Thinking
Steve Jobss main goal was to design a computer that both supported fostered individual work. They
reasoned, potential customers would have to fall in love with computers if they were to master the machines
apparent complexity and spend a lot of money to do so. People have to see how this technology would help
and benefit them. That was the reason Apple was working on reducing the complexity up to great extent so
that no one will stuck at any point of time while using its products.
Simplicity in design and use:
Apple focused only on the following attributes:
working with engineering and creativity
make product more user friendly
apply innovation
pay attention to smallest details
simplicity is the ultimate sophistication
Beyond fashion:
The appearance of Apple products is thus the result of painstaking attention to details. In fact, Apple goes
beyond trends and finds the customer experience. They were more focused on the coolness of their product
than that on the current fashion. Like the iMac wasnt about candy-coloured computers.
The iMac was about making a computer that is really quiet, that doesnt need a fan, that wakes up
in fifteen seconds, that has the best sound system in a consumer computer, a superfine display. Its about a
complete computer that expresses it on the outside as well. Apples notion was of Design-as-product-
integrity.
Innovation, Product Development Strategy, and Execution
At Apple these three terms have been deeply intertwined with the firms history and co-founder
Steve Jobs pivotal influence on it. For instance, the Mac was never intended to be only a computing
device; it instead exemplified a way of how people could (and should) work with a computing device.
1985-1993=> Apple was run by John Sculley (Apple was facing rapid technology change in the market and
competition from IBM)
1993-1996=> Michael Spindler (when the decision made were not being successfully resolved)
1996-1997=> Gilbert Amelio (shift from previous strategies).
During this upheaval in Apple there was creative core of technology developments but the process became
more traditional. During 1993-1998 there were three things required at the inception of an idea: -
a marketing requirement document,
an engineering requirement document, and
a user-experience document.
The team would have to work on expanding the documents, inserting plans on how they hoped to meet the
marketing engineering, and user-experience needsfigures for the release date, pricing details, and the like.
Excellence in Execution- Steve Jobs took actions as given below:
stopping the licensing program,
closing two divisions, eliminating 70% of new projects,
shutting facilities (and moving manufacturing abroad),
changing the distribution system,
launching a website for direct sales.
Product lines were drastically reduced (from 15 to 3) and the sophisticated marketing, characteristic
of Jobs tenure before, resumed.
Platform Strategy
Apple has a clear platform strategy that was much beyond from just designing exciting products. The OSX
operating system, for example, is used in all of Apples computers as well as in the iPhone. And the
iPhone and iPod Touch clearly come from the same platform.
Customers benefit from a companys effective use of a platform strategy.
More stable and reliable designs
products that require less repair, maintenance, and service, in general and particularly
easiness for first-time users.
Iterative customer involvement: This includes participatory design that Apple design the software
in a way that is with customer. That means Apple insisted on integrating customers experience into
its design and development processes.
Designing to create insanely great products
CEO as Chief Innovator
Steve Jobs has been called as Princess Diana of business leaders. His well-known temperament often
characterized as dictatorial, may in fact reflect demands that arise from a distinct vision of the meaning of
the company, its products and how that can be achieved:
products were launched on time and with high quality
product concepts were not shown in public
consistency between the problem solving efforts within Apple product development and the work
that customer would themselves be undertaking.
Jobs has been the face of the company in making strategy to product and service design to
packaging.
Products are not rolled out; they are presented in periodic extravaganzas that are shrouded in
elaborate secrecy beforehand.
Jobs has used his prominence to effectively, dramatically, and boldly move his company into new
spaces, all of which, when looked at in retrospect, seem like totally evident changes.
Bold Business Experimentation
To move into retail stores in May 2001, followed on the heels of similar products
In contrast to it, customers visiting an Apple Store found products already configured at prices
distinctly higher than those at Dells website (and elsewhere), there were no workstations and servers, and
limited software for sale.
As curious non-Apple customers, along with Apple fans, were drawn into elegant surroundings that
hosted beautiful objects whose utility could be immediately accessed. Seven years later Apple Stores had
become destinations, the retailing Holy Grail, as Apple products, so well showcased, grew in both
numbers and popularity.
Constant Learning and Adaptation:
The company make progress by eliminating the things; the simplicity of the Apple products has been
heralded from the companys origin.
For example:
the iPod was resolutely in one material and colour in beginning, but then, this product became
another version in another material and array of colours.
the iMAc starting in 1998 in an array of colours and in one determined shape, became in ensuing
years a machine in white only, now is offered in vastly different configurations. And more
importantly who know what will happen to it next year.

Apples Future
Jobs successor, Tim Cook, who had been running Apples day-to-day operation during 2011 was made
CEO.
By March 2012 it had 362 retails stores that were visited by more than one million people every day.
From the time of Cook as CEO, Apples share price had increases by about60%.

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