When Apple introduced iDVD, they had purchased the company that developed the software platform they needed to provide the functionality. When the big meeting came for Steve Jobs to review the capabilities and recommended interfaces that the team had developed, they all got into a big room and placed all of their intricate interface designs, specifications documents, and user experience research all on the walls and prepared to wow Steve with their technical expertise and attention to detail.
When Steve Jobs got to the meeting, he looked around for a minute, then got up and walked to the board. Grabbed a dry erase marker and drew a box. He looked at the audience and said, “This is your interface” pointing to the empty box. He then drew a smaller file folder on the outside of that box. “This is the file you want to make into a DVD” pointing to the smaller file folder. He then drew an arrow from the small file folder to the box indicating the functionality, which is that you simply drag the file over the interface and drop it in. And then he walked out the door. The company was stunned and inspired, and the result is excellent.
The genius of Steve Jobs was not just in the technology he created or the products he developed; it was the method with which he packaged that technology and presented it the consumers, and I will forever be inspired by that. – Brent Williams
