Jonathan Ive

By Paul Steiger

Introduce the designer selected and the reason for selection

The designer that I chose to research was Jonathan Ive who is the chief of design at Apple. Jonathan started at the company in 1992 and has since designed products such as the iPod, iMac, Powerbook and the iPhone. I chose to research Jonathan because of how influential Apples products have become over the years. The designs that he creates are known worldwide and are easily distinguished as being Apple products.

Describe a project in which they practiced user-centered design

Jonathan Ive’s practiced user-centered design when he was working on the iPhone X. Apple is all about the user experience that comes along with their products and the iPhone is no exception. The iPhone X faced many challenges due to the changes that the company wanted to the product. One such change was removing the famous home button to add more screen space. But this meant that the users could no longer open the phone as they did in the past. These design challenges meant that Jonathan and his team of designers had to really consider the user to ensure that the iPhone would be well received.

What user-centered design principles and methods did the designer utilize?

Jonathan Ive’s uses such principals as memorability, learnability, and satisfaction when he designed the iPhone X. Memorability is crucial for Apple because the company wants its users to appreciate the product every time they use it. Jonathan sees learnability as an important design principal because the phone is meant to be very intuitive to the user. Satisfaction is another principal that Jonathan utilized when creating the iPhone X. The iPhones end goal is to satisfy the buyer and Jonathan does that through slick design and user friendly interfaces.

Whom are the designers target audience? What was their gender, generation, culture, and profession?

The target audience for the iPhone X are both male and female aged 20–45. The product is aimed at both domestic and international consumers that are professionals and executives. The iPhone is geared towards the middle and upper class who are hard core loyals to the company.

How did practicing user-centered design add value to the project as a whole?

Through the practice of user-centered design the iPhone X became a very successful product that launched the iPhone into the next generation of smartphones. Utilizing the principal of learnability Jonathan Ive designed an iPhone that not only exceeded that of prior models brought the product into new heights regarding its status and price. While some features were taken away, knew features were added thus creating a new experience for the user.

What are the key takeaways from this assignment?

The key takeaways from this assignment is learning about a real designer that practices user-centered design. We are told about how user-centered works in class but it’s another to see it implemented in the industry. When Researching Jonathan Ive and the iPhone X I was amazed to learn how much thought went into every aspect of the iPhone X from the choosing to let go of the home button to enhancing software of the phone. In the end, I better understood that products that always keep the user in mind do better than those that don’t because the designers know what the customer wants.

Interview: Ben Perez, iPhone X user

Q: Do you know who designed the iPhone X?

A: Yes, Jonathan Ive.

Q: What’s your favorite aspect of the iPhone X?

A: I enjoy the weight of the phone and the glass sandwich design.

Q: What do you find most challenging about using the phone?

A: Hardest part of using the phone is not having a headphone jack and having the camera on the back protrude.

Q: Would you recommend this product to others and why?

A: Yes, because I find the software ecosystem to be pretty complete. It’s expensive but gives more value than other options on the market.

Q: What is your overall impression of the iPhone X?

A: The notch on the iPhone is a good design feature by the designers because it gives more screen space for the user. The phone is very user-friendly and offers a lot of new features like face ID.

Q: If you had a chance to change anything on the iPhone X what would it be?

A: I would be to get rid of the camera protrusion that is on the back of the phone.

https://research-methodology.net/apple-segmentation-targeting-and-positioning/

http://time.com/5025887/apple-jony-ive-iphone-x/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/jony-ive-apple-design-genius-180967232/