Behind the Idea
The king is dead. Long live design.
Jens Martin Skibsted’s work has been accredited worldwide. Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, he is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and Global Agenda Council on Design member. In 2009 he co-founded the product design super-group KiBiSi with Lars Holme Larsen and Bjarke Ingels.
The user is king. It’s a phrase that’s repeated over and over again as a mantra: Companies must become user-centric. But there’s a problem: It didn’t work. Steve Jobs was king.
One evening, well into the night, I asked some of my friends on the Apple design team about their view of user-centric design. Their answer? “It’s all bullshit and hot air created to sell consulting projects and to give insecure managers a false sense of security. At Apple, we don’t waste our time asking users, we build our brand through creating great products we believe people will love."
Of course, Apple will not say this publicly since it’s a closed company and would risk offending stakeholders by speaking out against user-centeredness. Truth was that Apple was Steve-Jobs-centered. He defined his own rules and his vision came first.
He created Instant Icons: Familiar products, but something about their design that made them essentially new products. They opened new markets and create new demand—just think of the Apple iPod.
He understood that all creative industries are dependent on the launch of radically new products.
Studies of successful innovations and creativity shows, creating something new is a chaotic, unpredictable, frustrating, and very, very hard process. And most of all, it’s the result of extraordinary efforts and visions of a few extremely talented people. Their inspiration comes from a multiple of sources and is highly individual. User-led design leads to perceived sameness – Steve-Jobs-led design led to perceived singularity.
“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life”, said Steve Jobs. He was true to this mantra on a personal level and on a professional level till the end. It’s time for brands to step up and trust themselves like Steve Jobs trusted Apple and vice-versa. Honor him.
It seems serendipitous that the work of Dieter Rams, widely regarded as one of the most influential industrial designers of our time, is exhibited at SFMoMA these days. Dieter Rams produced iconic works and innovative ideas that have proved seminal for our contemporary design culture in general – and for Apple’s design culture especially. Steve Jobs took Dieter Rams’ ethos to the masses, but also expanded the role of the designer.
The designer’s role was primarily a shape giver, pre Steve Jobs. Design was part of the final process, final finish and seemingly superficial. Steve Jobs proved that not only could design be deep at the core of a company’s strategy and that it could deliver massive ROI. He made us understand that unless the core company’s culture is passionate for design, and can integrate design into the entire user experience, the future for that business is limited.
