Apple CEO John Ternus Explains What Makes Good Product Design
In a TIME interview, Apple's new CEO explains how user experience, hardware and software collaboration shape the company's design choices.
Apple CEO John Ternus says product design should make devices better to use, not merely more eye-catching. In a TIME interview released this week, Apple's new chief executive described a design process that brings industrial designers, software teams and engineers together around the user's experience.12
That does not rule out playful details. Ternus pointed to the animation shown when the iPhone Duo's inner display opens. It has no practical function, he said, but can still make the device more enjoyable. "Sometimes you just want a little whimsy," Ternus explained.12
Design should earn its place
The distinction Ternus draws is between a feature that improves a product and one that simply demands attention. According to the interview, Apple's teams work together to decide whether an idea helps users, while rejecting choices that feel frivolous or distracting. That is a familiar design principle, but the example matters: the company is willing to keep a flourish when it contributes to how a device feels, even if it does not add a new capability.12
The iPhone Duo gives Apple a new set of hardware-specific opportunities. Ternus discussed Kids Cue, which places Peanuts characters such as Snoopy on the phone's outer display to attract a child's attention towards the camera during a photograph. He presented the feature as an example of Apple using the form of a new device to explore experiences that would not make sense on a conventional phone.12
Hardware and software in the same conversation
Ternus, a mechanical engineer by background, said he has worked closely with Apple's industrial designers since joining the company. He described the relationship between designers and engineers as unusually collaborative, with both sides expected to understand the other's work. In his telling, design is not a final layer applied after engineering; it sits at the centre of the product-development process.12
The same thinking extends to Apple's artificial-intelligence plans. Ternus said AI should create useful personalised experiences without forcing people to understand the technology behind them. He identified access to information already stored on a user's phone as one area where Apple sees room to improve products, although the interview did not set out a detailed timetable for those ambitions.12
The comments follow earlier reporting that Ternus has made product design a priority since becoming CEO in September, including regular visits to Apple's design studio. He also said he wants the company's way of working to remain stable as its products and technologies evolve.1
Our opinion
Ternus's argument is most convincing when it connects design to small moments people actually notice. An opening animation will not justify a device on its own, but it can make an otherwise mechanical interaction feel considered. The harder test is whether Apple's promised collaboration produces restraint as well as polish: a feature should earn attention by reducing friction or adding delight, not because it carries an AI label. This interview offers a useful statement of intent, but the company's future software releases will decide whether that intent survives contact with everyday use.