Apple CEO John Ternus Explains What Makes Good Product Design

Apple CEO John Ternus says improving the user's experience guides Apple's design decisions, whether that means adding practical features or an animation that simply makes a device more enjoyable to use.

TIME published an interview with Ternus last week, and released the video version on Tuesday with additional discussion about design.

In the video, Ternus was asked how Apple distinguishes a design choice that contributes to a product from one that merely attracts attention. He said teams work together to determine what will make a product better for its users, ruling out ideas that are frivolous or distracting.

That approach apparently still leaves room for playful details. Ternus pointed to the animation that appears when opening the ‌iPhone Duo‌'s inner display, explaining that it serves no functional purpose but can make the experience more satisfying. "Sometimes you just want a little whimsy," he said.

Ternus also discussed Kids Cue, which displays Peanuts characters such as Snoopy on the ‌iPhone Duo‌'s outer screen to draw a child's attention toward the camera during a photo. He said developing a different kind of iPhone gave Apple's teams an opportunity to explore ideas made possible by the new hardware. Asked how involved he remains with design, Ternus said:

I'm a mechanical engineer by background, and the team that the product designers work most closely with are the industrial designers. So, I've been working hand in hand with industrial designers at Apple since I started. And it's an amazing relationship.

I think what's so special about this place is design is at the center of it. Design means everything to us. And what's incredible is our designers, both on the software side and the hardware side, they really understand the engineering. And the engineers have a very deep appreciation for design. And so it's a really powerful collaboration.

The same focus on the experience purportedly informs Apple's approach to AI. Ternus said the technology creates opportunities to improve existing products and develop new ones, but users should be able to appreciate a feature without needing to understand that AI makes it possible. He identified personalized experiences, supported by access to information on the user's phone, as a particular focus for Apple.

The comments follow a report earlier this month that Ternus has made product design a major priority since becoming CEO in September, visiting Apple's design studio several times a week. The interview ended with a question about what Ternus wants to preserve as CEO:

The opportunities in the products, that stuff will change. It'll evolve as it does as new technologies come, but the way we work, I don't want that to change.

The full interview also covers Apple's updated parental controls, Ternus's transition to CEO, and his interest in motor racing.