Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple

Case report---Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple

Q1. Why has Apple been so successful? What do you attribute it to?

For several years, Apple has been ranked as the most innovative company in the world, but how it has achieved such success remains mysterious because of the company's obsession with secrecy. Now researchers and business men have found more about its success. According to the case, the main reasons are showed as following.

Product:

1. Technology innovation

Computers, music players, smartphones, etc are major products at Apple. In this field, technology is the first consideration. Constant innovation keeps Apple as the pioneer; otherwise, it cannot even exist. "Think differently", is always what stuff at Apple do, they are always against Conventional Wisdom. "Innovation" to Apple, means both creating and eliminating. Constant learning and adaption is the reason to explain some "anti-business" behavior at Apple. However, Apple doesn't develop the technology without any consideration. For every step it takes, it will pay attention to resources, market research, and potential feedback. Innovation always comes with risk, so Apple's success must also attribute to its caution.

2. Product development strategy

Someone regards the products at Apple as a kind of modern art, since its design is so fashionable and attract so many loyal customers. However, according to Apple, "there is more to coolness than fashion", since it is the combination of art and technology. To those decision makers, beautiful, smooth, and consistent interface didn't sacrifice features, some of which would not be seen on other PCs until years later. To customers, what they really expect is high technology, simplicity and customer-friendly interface; although beautiful and colorful looking of products can be very trendy, customers will not pay for Apple without unique technologies.

Jobs drives the notion of design-as-product-integrity. He believed, the integrity of the entire product's design, from its "intention" through its concept development, through the process of making it and, ultimately, to the user's experience of working with it--such that the simplicity that resulted becomes the ultimate sophistication.

Apple utilizes Platform Strategy so that their products and future products win the absolute loyalty from their followers. It can be taken as a kind of business magic. With a family of products envisioned at the earliest stages of product concept and planning, this kind of innovation requires designers and engineers to think ahead. This strategy is proved to be successful, since companies who put a premium on design, resources and time invested into the initial product is leveraged across derivative products; these products can be developed and ramped up more quickly because they build on and make use of existing design elements in the platform. At the same time, customers will have to rely more on this family of products and expect more from it. Apple is very efficient at grasping the heart of customers. Mac operating system developed and utilized by Apple products can be regarded only operation system to compete with Windows. Mac and Windows are not compatible to each