Apple CEO John Ternus recently shed light on his working relationship with the company’s internal design teams. In a new interview, Ternus explained how closely he interacts with both the industrial and software designers, emphasizing that design remains a foundational element of the technology giant’s product development process.
Engineering and design work together from the start
Ternus described a collaborative environment where designers and engineers share a deep understanding of each other’s disciplines. He noted that the process is not simply a designer creating a sketch and passing it off to an engineering team to figure out how to build it. Instead, the teams work hand-in-hand from the very beginning of a project.
The CEO stated that he has worked closely with Apple’s industrial designers since he first started at the company, calling it an “amazing relationship.” While he did not explicitly state how hands-on he is currently, he reiterated that design is “at the center” of what makes Apple special and that it “means everything to us.”
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This collaborative approach appears to be a core part of how Apple develops its hardware and software. By having engineers who appreciate design and designers who understand engineering constraints, the teams can work together to create cohesive products. John Ternus views this unified process as a powerful dynamic and a wonderful thing to be part of.
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