IBM App Connect Wins iF Design Award
I am delighted to share that IBM App Connect has received an iF Design Award 2018 within the Apps/Software discipline. The awards were announced on Friday 9th March at an event in Munich and the full results published.
This latest award continues recognition of the exceptional user experience being created by the application integration designers at IBM Studios Hursley. Following the Spark International 2017 Design Award for App Connect, this team has again been applauded by a prestigious industry panel.
In this, its 65th year, iF Design Award is an annual event that received over 6,400 submissions from 54 countries. The iF Design Award has a renowned reputation as an international sign of design excellence. The organizers told us this year the event was judged by an industry panel of 63 distinguished experts from 20+ countries who convened over 3 days in January. App Connect was scrutinized on innovation and elaboration, functionality, aesthetics, responsibility, and positioning.
There are many people involved in this project deserving of merit and thanks. Since this is a special design moment, here the designers each describe their thoughts upon hearing the news of this award.
“We are passionate about creating amazing experiences for our users, and it’s brilliant being part of an eclectic team working together to make this a reality!” — Sarah Burwood
“This has truly been a team effort. Whilst building an empathy for our users and each other we’ve allowed ourselves to fail fast, be creative, explore and prototype new ideas, iterate quickly and keep a focus on our users needs. This is what makes coming to work every day so exciting.” — Steve Haskey
“At the core of IBM App Connect is the flow editor, designed to deliver an experience that is capable of fulfilling a diverse set of automation and integration scenarios. I’m so proud to have been part of the highly skilled and passionate team of designers, offering managers and software engineers that are working so hard to make this vision become a reality.” — Gary Thornton
Designers love a problem and we at IBM are challenged to make the very complex look and feel simple. This team puts relevant user interfaces on elegant solutions all year long, but it’s their devotion to make the things they care about that helps give the product personality.
“Design lives at the very core of App Connect. It has joined some of the many elite products created in-house from our award-winning team at Hursley. When we walk into work, we walk in the shoes of our users. And that’s what brings our success. We sweat the small stuff and we’re not finished yet.” —Danny Skinner
“There is always joy in creating interactions that please, in App Connect we get the little things right by sharing prototypes with users and listening. So I would like to thank them for this award.” — Lee Chase
“No one person was responsible for making the App Connect experience what it is. It’s taken a team of people from many roles working together, with customers, to get it right. My favourite moment was sitting next to a customer at a conference and demonstrating how ridiculously easy it is to create an API with a complex integration from scratch, and seeing their face light up. That’s the real prize.” — Rob Breeds
My proudest memories of our App Connect journey naturally centre around the designers. As customers reacted to what we’d made, we observed and listened; then the whole IBM team moved as one to iterate and enhance that user experience. Well done and thank you all.
IBM Hybrid Cloud design team honour roll
Arin Bhowmick —Vice President, Design
Tom Waterton — Design Content Specialist
Matt Putman — Current University Placement Designer
Malc Couldwell — Former App Connect Design Lead
Ashley Brimsted — Former App Connect Visual Designer
Brian Peaston (@creative1) is Design Manager, Application Integration, IBM Hybrid Cloud, based at IBM Studios Hursley, UK. The above article is personal and does not necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
