Apple Dropping Product Design Chief Role, Team to Report to COO Jeff Williams

[Joe Dohn]

This is one of those ideas that seem wonderful on the short term, but have serious consequences long-term.
Like the US completely moving production of computer overseas.

Sure, Apple will save money now. Why focus on design so much? Just rehash old formats! No need to pay for design?
Then, mysteriously, they will be left behind more and more.
You probably might have realized they already are, in some aspects.

 

[fuchsdh]

Stability as of late hasn't been what it once was though. Many software bugs. I guess we can blame work from home for that. For now. 🤷‍♂️

It's not work-from-home, it's a yearly release cycle that has to sync with two other software platforms.

Apple never had rock-solid releases, it was just if you had three+ years of point updates to the same OS, the problems receded into the back of your mind.

Everyone remembers Snow Leopard, no one remembers how bad it was at launch that they shipped 10.6.3 discs to retail. And it only got its reputation for longstanding reliability because Lion got delayed.

 

[e-coli]

This is an absolute catastrophe. The minute the bean counters and ops people start calling the shots with design, everything goes pear shaped. Hard to believe.

 

[diddl14]

Might as well ask chatGPT.. (and probably get better answers).

 

[smulji]

This doesn’t sound good

With this move, Apple is nothing more than another Dell from a design perspective

 

[rpmurray]

It's a sign of how little focus Apple has on design that they haven't announced the Polishing Cloth 2.0. Seriously though, in the past Apple had Steve and Jony. While I believe that not everything sprang full-blown from their brows, they were the ones that had a vision that the company followed, so that everything Apple made was distinctly Apple. Now it just looks like they're slowly heading down the path of mediocrity.

Obligatory: This would never have happened if Steve were here.

 

[TDTOMW]

I would like to comment that if it had not been for Jony Ive and Steve Jobs, vision of small but functional design, we would not have products like a MacBook Air, iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac mini, iMac, iPad and Mac Studio. those are small design features that push Apple to design. the Apple silicon chips with it low power draw, but faster processing. all these design features from fewer port, smaller chassis designs that people are crying about, are the features that push the tech industry to giving us smaller, easier to carry, longer battery life products, that make your life easier today. I for one thank their vision and accomplishments.

 

[UltimateSyn]

Design reports to the COO? Huh?

 

[rgwebb]

Only people that are "irked" are the ones who felt they were in postion to take on the role of Evans.

Well that stood to positively effect more than one person. Several people were likely to get a title and compensation bump as the org chart musical chairs worked itself out.

What happened here is Apple deciding all those people are worth less for doing essentially the same work as before. It's not like Dye is really going to be doing all that much in this leadership, he's just a report on the org chart. All the real design leadership is going to be left to the tier below Evans after Evans departs.

 

[Joe Dohn]

This is an absolute catastrophe. The minute the bean counters and ops people start calling the shots with design, everything goes pear shaped. Hard to believe.

Pear-shaped products would actually be original.

 

[ghanwani]

How? with useable MacBooks that nearly everyone I know uses a Mac absolutely loves? Even people I know that left Apple due to the previous design's hampered versatility(limited ports and cooling issues) have returned and bought new M1 and M2 Mac's due to their newly returned versatility.

This is about appearance not usability.

 

[Tagbert]

Does Mark Gurman do anything besides report gossip?

Well, that pretty much is his job description. Rumors and gossip.

 

[richinaus]

Steve saw the future....... now we know what he meant by 'wow, wow, wow'.

 

[ggx12]

Ives got lauded way too much. People want great products not oil paintings. You can date the hottest model around but after the honeymoon period, you may find they’re actually quite boring and not very stimulating, that exterior may lose its shine.

I think that Jony Ive (and his team) had an ability to design timeless products with superior build quality in a world focused on churning cheap forgettable plastic products. Just take the 27" iMac. The design has remained largely unchanged for 10/15 years, yet it still looks more elegant today than any competing products.

 

[threesixty360]

My guess is that the structure was already working like that what for a long time so they probably thought putting a design head in isnt actually going to change things.

I think there will be quite a few designers who are already more vocal than others and we’re already directly speaking to the COO.

So you end up getting a lot more ideas about how things should be instead of just 1 powerful voice who can be obstinate anyway.

The difference with Ive is that he was C-Level so you couldn’t overrule him. I think apple needs more balance and pragmatism because some mistakes (MacBook keyboard) are very costly mistakes.

Jobs as a the pragmatic balance to Ive was probably the more important part of the partnership. Apples issue is not Hankey leaving or having a design head. It’s more about having another C-level job design executive with taste and pragmatism at the same time. I feel they must have it in the current COO as the stuff they produce is still at the top of the industry.

 

[R3k]

Perhaps the position ended up being somewhat Superfluous.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

I agree that the headline sounds ominous, but isn't it possible that Apple simply needs more time before deciding on the right candidate? Maybe they have multiple candidates on the current design team who could serve as design chief, and they want to proceed cautiously.

And in the meantime, the team reports to Jeff Williams — sounds logical. Ive had the position for decades, and he isn’t easy to replace. They may have to look outside the company.

 

[bluespark]

This seems like a horrible mistake -- maybe even a defining mistake. Apple, arguably more than any company on earth, is defined by its product design. Apple's best products didn't merely design around an operational objective, but instead were a core attribute of the product itself. Consider the original iPod as one of many possible examples. Operational design that that time would have involved many more buttons and gizmos. Having a design chief who can speak directly and authoritatively with the ultimate decision maker is what allowed this product to occur.

Of course, Apple has also gone too far the other way, although almost completely under Tim Cook. Jonathan Ive under Steve Jobs was every bit the strong personality he later became known for, but he was counterbalanced then by Jobs' more practical sensibilities. Under Cook, Ive ran amok and that's not good, either. What Apple needs is a design chief who is co-equal to the product chief.

 

[hagjohn]

I would think you would want these groups to report to someone more technical, than a operations officer, but that is just me.

 

[rgwebb]

Does Mark Gurman do anything besides report gossip?

Reminder: you are on a website called MacRumors.com

 

[ipedro]

Apple's secret sauce has been the importance it places on design and user experience, something the original tech giants IBM and later Microsoft thought was dispensable. Turns out people like to use things that look and feel nice. Steve Jobs got that.

Tim Cook and Jeff Williams are similar in that they're left brain accountant types. Tim's methodical and accurate and has been smart enough to know the importance of creative right brain leaders and let them do their thing. This decision seems to throw that out. Jeff Williams isn't a designer type. Perhaps he's going to do what Cook did and let the designers take precedence while he sits back and coordinates the teams.

Tim is on the verge of retirement. Perhaps, just waiting to launch the glasses. Williams is about his age so he's not the successor. John Ternus looks more likely. I get that Ternus is more like Jobs, I think he'll make a great CEO. I hope this void doesn't break things until there's a chance for new leadership.

 

[now i see it]

Design team has no leader. Product development meetings must be fun

 

[richinaus]

My guess is that the structure was already working like that what for a long time so they probably thought putting a design head in isnt actually going to change things.

I think there will be quite a few designers who are already more vocal than others and we’re already directly speaking to the COO.

So you end up getting a lot more ideas about how things should be instead of just 1 powerful voice who can be obstinate anyway.

The difference with Ive is that he was C-Level so you couldn’t overrule him. I think apple needs more balance and pragmatism because some mistakes (MacBook keyboard) are very costly mistakes.

Jobs as a the pragmatic balance to Ive was probably the more important part of the partnership. Apples issue is not Hankey leaving or having a design head. It’s more about having another C-level job design executive with taste and pragmatism at the same time. I feel they must have it in the current COO as the stuff they produce is still at the top of the industry.

I worked in a place exactly as described by you, and the vocal people are not usually right or the best. It was a disaster. I left along with everyone else who was good. They are left with dross now.

 

[performa_6400]

What are the chances this is a temporary move to ride through a period of low sales? Design needs leadership and a north star. That isn't an operations thing.

As a product designer, this quote continues to ring true.
“If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.” -Dr. Ralf Speth

 

[netdudeuk]

I became a product designer because of Johnny Ive.

I really don't think this is a good idea, you need someone with product expertise to oversee operations. Another C-Suite exec focused on general operations isn't going to cut it.

Makes me concerned for where their design strategy may be headed.

Errr, no. As far as we know, products such as the previous MBPs (e.g. unreliable keyboards with basically no travel) and the trash can Mac (poor cooling) had design flaws due to limitations caused by aesthetic design decisions. Function really needs to come before form. Think latest generation MBPs. They may look pretty dull but that keyboard is leagues ahead of the previous one.