Apple Announces Upcoming Departure of Lead Product Designer Evans Hankey

[tomssy]

Thanks for all the hard work Evans, so many amazingly good designs over the last years, will be missed.


You nailed it here. It's going to be a combination of what designers want with what engineers can do within cost constraints enforced by others (hello Apple pencil v1 on the new base iPad total cost call there) - and then of course you have the top execs who oversee it all who could affect things.

As others have pointed out, Apple has done astoundingly well under their current CEO, but the company misses someone at the flyover exec level who would put their foot down and say "you know what folks, this really sucks, we can't do it like this.", that Job's did - thinking of Apple Watch v3 carried on for years where you could not do a OS update without doing a factory reset 1st, every single time, or this goofy v1 pencil on the iPad etc..

The company is doing fine without that, but it would do better with someone making these calls and keeping the user experience quality at top notch (for everything). Tough to get someone like that, which the CEO could trust who wouldn't also be an ego centric nut job though.

Agreed. And I admire Steve a lot but he was that ego centric nut job.

 

[Jorbanead]

If this is the guy that decided the over priced entry level iPad should have the landscape oriented camera, yet the iPad Pros shouldn’t, then I say Bye!!

It’s not. And Hankey is not a guy.

- Stupidity of pill hole not being up to top
- iPad with Shell of iPad Pro but without compatibility for pencil gen 2
- notch on MacBooks and MacBook Pro with touchbar
- AirPods Pro 2 without usb-c
etc.

Industrial design isn’t responsible for some of those issues.

They don’t need him anymore because they use the same design over and over anyway.

She. Hankey is a she.

Another creative innovator tired of seeing Apple being run by the wall street parasite types… it kills their desire to think different and kills the moral of the teams… Tim Cook needs to decide who makes Apple the money… the designers and creators of their products, or the ones looking to squeeze money out of the company destined for its shareholders… Apple has lost its creative mojo and its showing... These people departing are a huge drain on the real talent… it’s sad to see really.

This is my thoughts exactly. The current Apple is less concerned with design and these designers are getting bored and would rather use their skills elsewhere.

In the Jobs / Ive era, the industrial design had the most operational power within Apple. It was a design-led company. That power structure has been undone under Tim Cook's tenure.

exactly!

Oh no! A person mistook a female with a commonly male name for a man!!!

The horror!!!!

It just shows they didn’t read the article that’s why it’s dumb.

 

[Simmias]

No more hankey panky.

 

[coolfactor]

If she's responsible for the latest "cleanup" of the product design, then it's sad announcement.

But whoever's in charge of the iPad lineup needs to go.

 

[randomthoughts]

Wonder if she’s responsible for the 10th generation iPad that only works with Pencil 1 and requires a cable to charge because of the lack of magnets to support a portrait camera…

 

[And Boom]

If this is the guy that decided the over priced entry level iPad should have the landscape oriented camera, yet the iPad Pros shouldn’t, then I say Bye!!

Evans Hankey is a she. Says it in the article, and the summary of the OP.

 

[smulji]

If she's responsible for the latest "cleanup" of the product design, then it's sad announcement.

But whoever's in charge of the iPad lineup needs to go.

Problem with iPad is not hardware, it's software.

 

[ian87w]

Not surprising at all. She hasn’t done anything since 2019. Nothing bold, nothing new. Everything is just a rehash of Ive’s designs. Even the new iMac (which I think looks great) was apparently created by Jonny Ive.

Then why would she leave? I mean she probably received handsome compensation. She was not let go, she is leaving on her own accord seemingly. This tells me maybe she wasn't getting what she wanted as a designer. Maybe the new Apple put too much focus on cost cutting and rehashing older design that she felt she was not doing her fullest.

ML head left, design head left, maybe what's wrong is the management/HR?

 

[lazyrighteye]

If they care about great design and user experience, they definitely should

Yep. I'd also take it a step further - if they are interested in thoughtful perspective outside of their own [echochamber], I'd also recommend including creative teams for more than just "making things." Often their perspective can be a breath of fresh air. Perspective is good. 😜

 

[smulji]

Then why would she leave? I mean she probably received handsome compensation. She was not let go, she is leaving on her own accord seemingly. This tells me maybe she wasn't getting what she wanted as a designer. Maybe the new Apple put too much focus on cost cutting and rehashing older design that she felt she was not doing her fullest.

ML head left, design head left, maybe what's wrong is the management/HR?

Don't forget the high turnover on the Project Titan team

 

[Jumpthesnark]

“Apple's software design lead Alan Dye is also staying at Apple and will continue to report to Williams,”

I thought Jobs always quoted someone else “If you’re really serious about software, you’ll make your own hardware”.

Based on that why is software design reporting to hardware design?!

Williams is operations chief, not hardware design.

 

[femike]

Tim Cook's Apple is not doing well inside, and hasn't been for a while. Its product direction or lack of proves that. Happy investors are not the only metric. Tim Cook's pursuit of making the institutional investers his number one customer and keeping Wall St happy is ruining Apple.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

Happy investors are not the only metric. Tim Cook's pursuit of making the institutional investers his number one customer and keeping Wall St happy is ruining Apple.

Keeping Wall Street happy and the investors happy is literally his number one job and he’s doing a great job at it.

 

[smulji]

Keeping Wall Street happy and the investors happy is literally his number one job and he’s doing a great job at it.

The difference between Steve Jobs and Tim Cook is that Steve put the customer and user experience first (and foremost) and shareholders second. His philosophy was that if you look after your customers the financial success of Apple will follow. Whereas Tim seems to only care about the desires of shareholders while user experience of the Apple ecosystem suffers. That's the difference.

 

[pacalis]

Making the design team thinner.

And, for business travel use cases, a bit lighter.

 

[UMHurricanes34]

I miss Steve’s direction and demanding standards more and more each year. It’s clear that Tim Cook’s Apple prioritizes releasing greatest hits albums and nothing more. Software is a complete mess, and as Steve said - any company that’s truly serious about software should make their own hardware. Welp, we’ve got the slabs of metal but the bits they’re running sure do seem to be devolving. Creative people need to be stimulated by challenges, or they burn out and leave from repetitive work. Happens in all creative industries.

 

[Jony Ive and Co.]

Time to bring back Jony Ive

Apple's designs have been going downhill ever since he left.

 

[Karma*Police]

Then why would she leave? I mean she probably received handsome compensation. She was not let go, she is leaving on her own accord seemingly. This tells me maybe she wasn't getting what she wanted as a designer. Maybe the new Apple put too much focus on cost cutting and rehashing older design that she felt she was not doing her fullest.

ML head left, design head left, maybe what's wrong is the management/HR?

I never said she left. That said, big companies don’t let execs go overnight. They have transition plans. And if she was leaving of her own accord, the likelihood of her giving 6 months’ notice is highly unusual.

At the end of the day, no one knows if she left or was let go except the parties involved, but either way, she didn’t contribute much so I’m glad she’s leaving.

If Jony Ive, as an outsider, could do more to advance product design (iMac), I’ve no doubt she could have made her own imprint if she had the skills to do so. Furthermore, if I, as a user, recognize Apple’s lack of design innovation, I’m sure Apple execs and employees, including her direct reports did as well.

 

[svish]

Wonder who will take the role!!

 

[ghanwani]

I miss Steve’s direction and demanding standards more and more each year. It’s clear that Tim Cook’s Apple prioritizes releasing greatest hits albums and nothing more. Software is a complete mess, and as Steve said - any company that’s truly serious about software should make their own hardware. Welp, we’ve got the slabs of metal but the bits they’re running sure do seem to be devolving. Creative people need to be stimulated by challenges, or they burn out and leave from repetitive work. Happens in all creative industries.

This discussion reminds me of this old conversation.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/wsj-jony-ive-became-dispirited-after-apple-watch-and-sometimes-failed-to-show-up-to-meetings.2188106/post-27507373

 

[smulji]

I never said she left. That said, big companies don’t let execs go overnight. They have transition plans. And if she was leaving of her own accord, the likelihood of her giving 6 months’ notice is highly unusual.

At the end of the day, no one knows if she left or was let go except the parties involved, but either way, she didn’t contribute much so I’m glad she’s leaving.

If Jony Ive, as an outsider, could do more to advance product design (iMac), I’ve no doubt she could have made her own imprint if she had the skills to do so. Furthermore, if I, as a user, recognize Apple’s lack of design innovation, I’m sure Apple execs and employees, including her direct reports did as well.

She’s been on the Industrial Design team for two decades. What do you mean she didn’t contribute much? She wouldn’t have lasted that long if she didn’t. Also, the fact that she’s given six months notice proves to me she’s leaving on her own accord otherwise she would have left already like Ahrendts did.

Apple has lost two of its LEAD Industrial Designers in 3 years, not to mention the numerous other industrial designers that have left after long tenures.

There’s definitely something wrong with Apple’s culture. It’s not about making the best products like it used to be but about growing its services revenue.

 

[Karma*Police]

She’s been on the Industrial Design team for two decades. What do you mean she didn’t contribute much? She wouldn’t have lasted that long if she didn’t. Also, the fact that she’s given six months notice proves to me she’s leaving on her own accord otherwise she would have left already like Ahrendts did.

Apple has lost two of its LEAD Industrial Designers in 3 years, not to mention the numerous other industrial designers that have left after long tenures.

There’s definitely something wrong with Apple’s culture. It’s not about making the best products like it used to be but about growing its services revenue.

She clearly hasn’t contributed much as a leader. It’s easy when you have a genius with a vision telling you what to do. It’s another thing entirely when you’re given the reins but lack the talent and vision to lead. Hence, my comment about Jony being able to contribute as an outsider (new iMac) while the rest of the lineup is just a rehash of Jony’s old designs during her tenure.

I don’t disagree about Apple’s culture. I’ve been sounding the alarm for a while now about the internal dysfunction, lack of bold leadership, bloat and bureaucracy, entitled engineers, and the need for significant layoffs.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

Yeah, though I have to wonder how much of the various Apple designs (original iMac, iPod & iiPhone) were solely Jony Ives, and how much were Jony Ives + Steve Jobs?

Jobs had a better sense of what was a good user experience and how to tie it into everything else at Apple. Since Ive doesn't have an engineering background he would make designs that is beautiful in an ideal world where there are no technical or practical limitations and where usability can make way for aesthetics, which is what we saw with iOS 7 and pre-M1 MacBooks.

I'd love to see bold, new designs like a chinless, touchscreen iMac with FaceID.

I don't ever want to see a finger touch input Mac because usability-wise it's not great on a mouse interface but I do think Pencil only support would be nice for people who want to draw. I'd love to see a modern version of the sun flower iMac that can do this.

 

[atomic.flip]

explains a lot really, the latest products show it, they need to hire a new team that are best for the job

LOL

You don’t let your existing lead leave and then fill the gap later. This is more a sign that they were not happy with something at Apple and decided to move on.

Johnny I’ve, then this departure.

Fits the narrative I’ve been seeing behind the scenes. Pretty sad.

Who knows what future products will be like?

 

[Flash1420]

Please bring back Jony Ive. Yes, I know some of his designs were dumb, but we need designers like him to establish the identity of Apple. His product designs were so iconic.