Jonathan Ive Talks Design, Failure, and More in Appearance at London's Design Museum

[MacRumors]

Jonathan Ive, Apple's Senior VP of Design, made a rare public appearance at the Design Museum in London yesterday (via Cult of Mac). At the event, he discussed everything from his view on the future of design to his opinions on failure with museum director Deyan Sudjic.

We shouldn't be afraid to fail - if we are not failing we are not pushing. 80% of the stuff in the studio is not going to work. If something is not good enough, stop doing it.

The talk with Sudjic also included a roomful of up-and-coming design students, with Ive offering additional perspective on the design process and rejection.

"The best ideas start as conversations. A small change at the beginning of the design process defines an entirely different product at the end. At the start of the process the idea is just a thought - very fragile and exclusive. When the first physical manifestation is created everything changes. It is no longer exclusive, now it involves a lot of people." Ive also mentioned, "There are 9 rejected ideas for every idea that works."

Photo by @nickcorston)​

Unfortunately for those design hopefuls listening to Ive, the odds of working in his team are slim. Apple's Industrial Design team is notoriously difficult to get into, in large part because its members never leave the company. The eighteen-person team hasn't seen a single member leave for fifteen years. "I like to work in a small team," Ive told Sudjic. "There is only 18 of us on the design team. Nobody has ever left."

Ive also touched on how to gain experience in the field, design studies in schools today, and the difference between making something different and making it better.

Our goal is to desperately make the best products we can. We're not naive. We trust that if we're successful and we make good products, that people will like them. And we trust that if people like them, they'll buy them. And we figured out the operation and we're effective. We know what we're doing, so we'll make money, but it's a tough sequence.

Ive has famously remained out of the spotlight for much of his tenure at Apple, but has opened up considerably since taking on new responsibilities for software design and more recently with the impending launch of the Apple Watch. Recent appearances have included an awards ceremony hosted by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and a Vanity Fair summit in San Francisco.

Update: Dezeen also has a very thorough overview of Ive's interview.

Article Link: Jonathan Ive Talks Design, Failure, and More in Appearance at London's Design Museum

 

[infiniteentropy]

Fear of failure leaves so many people paralyzed. Don't be afraid to fail, but be brave and dare to dream! Sounds like such an overused trope, but so much more would get done if people really acted this way.

 

[RightMACatU]

The eighteen-person team hasn't seen a single member leave for fifteen years

Hey, I've seen what they do to people who want to leave in Sons of Anarchy and mob movies

 

[MacFetish]

"There are 9 rejected ideas for every idea that works." Lesson to Samsung: get rid of the half-baked concepts and ideas *before* you get to production.

 

[Will do good]

"Advice to young ad whippersnappers: Make glorious mistake. Failure is a sign of effort. Failure is much more rewarding and inspiring than anonymity".

A quote from a well know and respected ad guy.

This doesn't include fools ad amateurs with no talent.

 

[Good User Name]

Fear of failure leaves so many people paralyzed. Don't be afraid to fail, but be brave and dare to dream! Sounds like such an overused trope, but so much more would get done if people really acted this way.

If the consequences of failure weren't so dire a lot of people would probably risk failure more often.

 

[H2SO4]

"There are 9 rejected ideas for every idea that works." Lesson to Samsung: get rid of the half-baked concepts and ideas *before* you get to production.

Jeez. Someone had to lower the thread to Samsung bashing. Can we just leave it alone for even one article?

 

[0xyMoron]

Ive sounds like a motivational speaker more than a designer. It's not so bad but it must be awful to have a discussion with him when he turns everything into a lecture.

 

[brianvictor7]

So based on the 9 out of 10 ideas are bad rule, I feel I have failed at 3 careers. Just 6 more to go before I hit the 10th! Oh, oh, can I count the PT jobs from high school and college? That brings it up 5 done and 4 left to burn!

Okay, so that probably doesn't work as an analogy.

 

[KdParker]

Hey, I've seen what they do to people who want to leave in Sons of Anarchy and mob movies

Quote:
The eighteen-person team hasn't seen a single member leave for fifteen years

All jokes aside. I think it is a bad idea to have a design team that has been so static for almost a generation.

 

[MacFetish]

Jeez. Someone had to lower the thread to Samsung bashing. Can we just leave it alone for even one article?

Where's the fun in that?

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

The best ideas start as conversations.

TC: Let's make a watch. Let's make some really... expensive... watches.
JI: Do you like gold?
TC: Sure!
JI: See you in two years, Tim.

 

[Traverse]

He's a very gifted designer, but I'm still not sure how I feel about his software design. To me, his vision produces usability.

 

[iAshley]

Jeez. Someone had to lower the thread to Samsung bashing. Can we just leave it alone for even one article?

I agree with you for most of the Samsung bashing, but he has a point

 

[69650]

Every team needs new people to generate fresh ideas. I don't think it's good for the design process to have the same people working year after year.

 

[\-V-/]

Every team needs new people to generate fresh ideas. I don't think it's good for the design process to have the same people working year after year.

Yeah, fresh perspective is a good thing.

 

[69650]

Jeez. Someone had to lower the thread to Samsung bashing. Can we just leave it alone for even one article?

Agreed. I'm sick of it on every freaking thread. Move on people please.

 

[strider42]

Ive sounds like a motivational speaker more than a designer. It's not so bad but it must be awful to have a discussion with him when he turns everything into a lecture.

Am I missing something. Wasn't the point of this interaction to be him talking. Its not like they were following him around on the job. He was specifically there to talk. I'm sure the interaction with anyone actually working with him or socializing with him is pretty different.

 

[BMcCoy]

I bet he's a good poker player...

I'd love to have a look around his design studio.. do you think I can pop in?

;-)

 

[brianvictor7]

Quote:
The eighteen-person team hasn't seen a single member leave for fifteen years

All jokes aside. I think it is a bad idea to have a design team that has been so static for almost a generation.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it?

 

[0xyMoron]

Am I missing something. Wasn't the point of this interaction to be him talking. Its not like they were following him around on the job. He was specifically there to talk. I'm sure the interaction with anyone actually working with him or socializing with him is pretty different.

Even in post product release videos when he talks about the manufacturing process he lectures more than giving insight about his involvement in the project, it makes him sound like a door-to-door salesman than Senior Vice President of Design.

 

[giantfan1224]

Quote:
The eighteen-person team hasn't seen a single member leave for fifteen years

All jokes aside. I think it is a bad idea to have a design team that has been so static for almost a generation.

Since it's obviously been working to wild success for Apple, maybe it's not such a bad idea??

 

[batmccoy]

It almost sounds as if they believe whatever product comes through this tough process will succeed. However, I still have doubts about the watch. I'm not sure a touch-screen watch (with marketing and pricing as an upscale "timepiece") fills a need in a world where touch-screen phones exist.

There's a difference between a project coming into the design department and making sure it leaves with a good design....and a project actually created in the design department. Not sure this type of design department (without Jobs) is really in touch with the user experience.

I get the feeling that the desire for a new product at Apple outweighed the actual need for a new product. Or rather that the watch should not have been that next product. The core needs of a timepiece were sacrificed in favor of the existing phone experience.

I would rather have seen a real Apple TV or Apple home phone or other accessories.

 

[hipnetic]

Seems fitting. When it comes to user interface design, Ive is an expert on Design Failure.

 

[Crosscreek]

He needs to quit whining about getting copied and ripped off. That is just a fact of life. Keep the patens coming and the attorneys busy and keep innovating. That's all you can do. Keep smiling at their jealousy.