Jony Ive on How Product Naming Influences Design Philosophy

[MacRumors]

Just a couple days after a clip of Jony Ive's appearance on BBC's Blue Peter was revealed, journalist Tom Davenport (via CNET) says he's found an insightful portion of the clip that was cut out. In the new segment, Ive talks about how product naming philosophy can affect the design process.

If we're thinking of lunchbox, we'd be really careful about not having the word 'box' already give you *bunch of ideas that could be quite narrow. You think of a box being a square, and like a cube. And so we're quite careful with the words we use, because those can determine the path that you go down.

As mentioned previously, Ive was a fan of Blue Peter while he was growing up and talks about a design he saw on the show that's stuck with him over the years. This is just another look at Ive's design process, which he's started talking about more and more over the years as Apple's profile has risen and as Ive and his team have received more accolades, which includes his knighting last May.

Last October, Ive was promoted to head of the Human Interface team and is playing the Steve Jobs role at the company. Former Apple employee Loren Brichter, who went on to create iOS game Letterpress, had said he was excited about Ive's new role because of how he could possibly apply his design philosophy to iOS.

Article Link: Jony Ive on How Product Naming Influences Design Philosophy

[sshhoott]

Just this video shows how much thought Jony puts into design. Critics can say that Apple is loosing its ground in OS X or iOS is becoming dated. But design is the only thing about Apple that has never been criticized. That's how good it is. Jony is Apple's greatest remaining soul.

[komodrone]

when I think of iPads, I think of futuristic female toiletries

[Sneakz]

That's something I never would've thought about.

[BlazednSleepy]

I never realized how down to earth and sweet this guy is. I figured that being apart of on the biggest corporations in world would mess with his ego. Good for him. Can't wait to see his take on software design.

[TMar]

OMG Apple is going to make a lunchbox... The iBox! Front page tomorrow.

[notjustjay]

"iTunes"

Your app for managing and backing up your smartphone contacts and apps, sync all your photos, and download e-books.

"iPhone"

The device you use to browse the web, access social networks, send text messages to your friends, check the weather, play games, tether your computer...

[maxosx]

He's smart, experienced, and very well paid. He should be creative, it's his job. It's time for a fresh new "look" we'll see what he does.

[buysp]

To use an American term. Jonny "it's time to step up to the plate" son! in relation to iOS 7

[sitsonthefence]

Originally Posted by TMar

OMG Apple is going to make a lunchbox... The iBox! Front page tomorrow.

I'd buy one of those. And a mini version.

[notjustjay]

Originally Posted by sitsonthefence

I'd buy one of those. And a mini version.

[iMikeT]

That's Sir Jony Ive to you!

[slicecom]

Originally Posted by sitsonthefence

I'd buy one of those. And a mini version.

You're stupid if you buy 1st gen. Wait for the retina iBox.

[Pakaku]

Originally Posted by komodrone

when I think of iPads, I think of futuristic female toiletries

Case in point.

[bjsterilite]

Originally Posted by TMar

OMG Apple is going to make a lunchbox... The iBox! Front page tomorrow.

Weren't you watching and listening? He wouldn't use the word "box" in the name

[Northgrove]

Today I learned why Apple wouldn't release an iBox even if they planned to release an iOS-powered lunch box. Seriously though, interesting interview.

----------

Originally Posted by notjustjay

Image

This changes everything.

[Weerez935]

Originally Posted by bjsterilite

Weren't you watching and listening? He wouldn't use the word "box" in the name

"iLunch"
The worlds most advanced lunch pail.
Integrated calorie counter and fitness planner.
Messages and Twitter integration: connects to other iLunch devices and shares what they are eating, " Sally we know you had a third snack pack".
Gatekeeper- will not allow anything over 450 calories into the iLunch device.
And finally lunch automation: it mixes your mio flavor drink for you.

And it's only 400$.

[tkermit]

Originally Posted by notjustjay

"iTunes"

Your app for managing and backing up your smartphone contacts and apps, sync all your photos, and download e-books.

"iPhone"

The device you use to browse the web, access social networks, send text messages to your friends, check the weather, play games, tether your computer...

I think his point is rather more subtle than how you should name your products. As I understood him, he suggests being careful what words you use in the design process so as to not get caught up in predefined notions of what certain words represent. You still might end up calling your end product the "magical lunch box" even if it looks like no lunch box you've ever seen, just as you might end up calling your hand held touchscreen computer a "phone".

Don't know if it's the best example in this context, but I'm kind of reminded of some of the early hard-drive based MP3 players right around the time the first iPod was released, that looked like portable CD players for some reason:

[davidjearly]

Originally Posted by tkermit

I think his point is rather more subtle than how you should name your products. As I understood him, he suggests being careful what words you use in the design process so as to not get caught up in predefined notions of what certain words represent. You still might end up calling your end product the "magical lunch box" even if it looks like no lunch box you've ever seen, just as you might end up calling your hand held touchscreen computer a "phone".

Don't know if it's the best example in this context, but I'm kind of reminded of some of the early hard-drive based MP3 players right around the time the first iPod was released, that looked like portable CD players for some reason:
Image

This is exactly the point Ive was making.

He didn't say that he would avoid naming a finished product around it's styling and or functions.

[numlock]

Originally Posted by sshhoott

Just this video shows how much thought Jony puts into design. Critics can say that Apple is loosing its ground in OS X or iOS is becoming dated. But design is the only thing about Apple that has never been criticized. That's how good it is. Jony is Apple's greatest remaining soul.

havent there been plenty of critics of the similar design of the last few iphones and the new imac?

and i have no who controls that but whats with the everchanging nano?

[designgeek]

This man is a genius. What I wouldn't give to have a one hour conversation with him.

[sshhoott]

Here is the full version of this episode with Jony Ive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=S6MKx2u-tFU

[macs4nw]

Originally Posted by Weerez935

"iLunch"
The worlds most advanced lunch pail.
Integrated calorie counter and fitness planner.
Messages and Twitter integration: connects to other iLunch devices and shares what they are eating, " Sally we know you had a third snack pack".
Gatekeeper- will not allow anything over 450 calories into the iLunch device.
And finally lunch automation: it mixes your mio flavor drink for you.

And it's only 400$.

Available in black/slate or white, and in 32 or 64 bite versions.
A rumored 'Mini bite' version will be offered for Lent, and discontinued after Easter.

[sshhoott]

Originally Posted by numlock

havent there been plenty of critics of the similar design of the last few iphones and the new imac?

and i have no who controls that but whats with the everchanging nano?

You're kind of right. For the iphone, Apple may have something new and refreshing coming up for the iPhone. But the main criticism for iPhone 5 is not the actual aesthetics and functionality of design, its the dated iOS and lack of a big screen with a proper aspect ratio (instead of just tall). Also, I believe, the new iMac is criticized mainly for the performance hit (5400RPM HDD) it took from the thin design and the resulting inaccessibility, not the actual design itself. So these issues are indirectly related to design but mainly have to do with hardware engineering, but damn they still look so good.

[everything-i]

Originally Posted by buysp

To use an American term. Jonny "it's time to step up to the plate" son! in relation to iOS 7

Unfortunately by the time he took over UI design iOS7 would have been pretty far along so I suspect there will not be much of Ive in it. iOS8 is going to be the one greatly influenced by him so it will be interesting to see the direction this goes over the next couple of years after he has had time to build a UI team aligned with his design ethos.