“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer – that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” – Steve Jobs

This quote is from the 2003 New York Times article “The Guts of a New Machine.”

Thanks to Robert Shedd for submitting this quote!

1. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation
2. Good design produces something the world didn’t know it was missing
3. Design is underpinned by the designer’s ability to not only look, but also to see

“Our DNA is as a consumer company – for that individual customer who’s voting thumbs up or thumbs down. That’s who we think about. And we think that our job is to take responsibility for the complete user experience. And if it’s not up to par, it’s our fault, plain and simply.” – Steve Jobs

Read more from Steve Jobs in Fortune’s article on the Most Admired Companies of 2008.

1. It takes a passionate commitment to thoroughly understand something
2. Design is everyone’s job. It takes a commitment from everybody in the company.
3. A quality user experience is an essential, sustainable competitive advantage

“To design something really well you have to get it.  You have to really grok what it’s all about.  It takes a passionate commitment to thoroughly understand something – chew it up, not just quickly swallow it.  Most people don’t take the time to do that… The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better designs we will have.” – Steve Jobs

Read the Wired article “Steve Jobs: The Next Insanely Great Thing” to read Steve’s full reply to the question: “Why aren’t more products made with the aesthetics of great design?”

1. Design is everyone’s job. It takes a commitment from everybody in the company.
2. What makes people passionate, pure and simple, is great experiences
3. Our job is to take responsibility for the complete user experience

Edit: I just noticed there were several typos in this quote – it has been updated with the correct words. Sorry about that!

“In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains and the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.” – Steve Jobs

Check out the article “Apple’s One-Dollar-a-Year Man” from Fortune Magazine in which Steve explains his obsession with design

1. Design is underpinned by the designer’s ability to not only look, but also to see
2. Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.
3. It takes a passionate commitment to thoroughly understand something