Apple – Why are they successful?
When it comes to product design Apple places second to none. Since Steve Jobs returned as CEO in 1997, Apple has managed to build innovative, cool, simple, convenient, and functional products that have captured the hearts of millions of customers around the world. There are few companies that have a customer base as loyal as Apple’s. Through its user-friendly and functional design choices, Apple has created a cult following other companies can only dream of achieving. When you take a look at Apple’s product design process, it starts to become clear why it is the most valuable company in the world today.
Focus on Design
Apple places a priority on design, marketing, product development, sales, etc. all coming later. The design team at Apple does not report to any other teams, only to the top executives at Apple. They are given the freedom to disregard engineering capabilities and set their own budgets. The team is separated from other Apple employees when they work on new products in order to prevent them from engaging in the typical mundane day-to-day office activities.
The Apple New Product Process
After a prototype design for a new product has been completed, the product development team receives the design process. This process goes into the stages of product development required to build the product, who is responsible for building different aspects of the product, where they work, and when the work should be completed.
Dreaded Mondays
Every Monday, Apple executives meet to discuss all the products that are in the design phase. The design team at Apple only focuses on creating a couple of products at once allowing executives at Apple to conduct an in-depth analysis of each product to determine if it is still worth investing in or not.
Product Launch
Even after product development is completed and the product reaches the manufacturing phase, Apple continues to tweak its design. Once the product is built, the testing phase follows and then the product goes back to the design team so they can make more changes. This process repeats itself until executives have determined the product is as good as it can possibly get. Once the product reaches this stage, it is ready to be taken to the market based on the instructions in the “Rules of the road”, a document detailing all the responsibilities and actions that must be taken prior to the commercialization of the product.
Apple’s product development process emphasizes design over any other aspect. This process explains why Apple has some of the longest product development processes in the industry. Apple doesn’t tend to be a first-mover for new features and innovation, but they seem to get it right each time they come out with something new.
“Focus on the product itself over everything else and the rest will fall into place” – Every CEO in silicon valley