You may have seen all the big headlines today that 'Meta has "poached" Apple’s most prominent design executive in a major coup (emphasis mine) that underscores a push by the social networking giant into AI-equipped consumer devices. The company is hiring Alan Dye, who has served as the head of Apple’s user interface design team since 2015.'
Yes, big win for Meta, uh-oh for Apple.
Yet take a few moments to read this - it's states a compelling case that this is the best thing to happen to Apple in decades. Some key quotes:
"...this is the best personnel news at Apple in decades. Dye’s decade-long stint running Apple’s software design team has been, on the whole, terrible — and rather than getting better, the problems have been getting worse."
"everyone I’ve spoken to is happy — if not downright giddy — at the news that longtime Apple designer Stephen Lemay is replacing Dye."
"What people overlooked is the obvious: Alan Dye doesn’t actually care about design."
"Apple replacing Dye with Lemay seemingly signals a significant shift in direction, replacing a guy whose approach was almost entirely superficial/visual with a guy who’s spent his entire career sweating actual interaction details."
"it could be the best thing to happen to Apple’s HI design in the entire stretch since Steve Jobs’s passing and Scott Forstall’s ouster."
There's lots more, including why he may have been hired (as a mistake) by Jony Ive, what's wrong with Apple's UI, the change in culture at Apple under Dye, what Lemay brings, and more. Great read:
daringfireball.net
Yes, big win for Meta, uh-oh for Apple.
Yet take a few moments to read this - it's states a compelling case that this is the best thing to happen to Apple in decades. Some key quotes:
"...this is the best personnel news at Apple in decades. Dye’s decade-long stint running Apple’s software design team has been, on the whole, terrible — and rather than getting better, the problems have been getting worse."
"everyone I’ve spoken to is happy — if not downright giddy — at the news that longtime Apple designer Stephen Lemay is replacing Dye."
"What people overlooked is the obvious: Alan Dye doesn’t actually care about design."
"Apple replacing Dye with Lemay seemingly signals a significant shift in direction, replacing a guy whose approach was almost entirely superficial/visual with a guy who’s spent his entire career sweating actual interaction details."
"it could be the best thing to happen to Apple’s HI design in the entire stretch since Steve Jobs’s passing and Scott Forstall’s ouster."
There's lots more, including why he may have been hired (as a mistake) by Jony Ive, what's wrong with Apple's UI, the change in culture at Apple under Dye, what Lemay brings, and more. Great read:
Bad Dye Job
It might have made some sense to bring someone from the fashion/brand world to lead software design for Apple Watch, but it sure didn’t seem to make sense for the rest of Apple’s platforms. And the decade of Dye’s HI leadership has proven it.
daringfireball.net
