9 Lenses   |   Emergent Patterns   |   Design Ideas and Options   |   Adaptive Experimentation   |   Adaptive Iteration
Example

Prototyping the Apple Store

AssessAs the two following website extracts explain, Apple’s focus on prototyping, observation and iteration was a large part of the huge success of Apple Stores.

While Ron Johnson (Apple’s Vice-President for Retail at the time) and Steve Jobs were largely responsible for the look and feel of the Apple Store originally, (Mickey) Drexler (Apple Board member and former CEO of Gap) also played a huge role. He suggested that Apple do a complete prototype of a store before breaking ground in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia. His argument was that Johnson and Jobs needed to physically see and experience the store before pulling the trigger. According to Walter Isaacson’s biography:

Drexler gave Jobs a piece of advice: Secretly build a prototype of the store near the Apple campus, furnish it completely, and then hang out there until you feel comfortable with it. So Johnson and Jobs rented a vacant warehouse in Cupertino. Every Tuesday for six months, they convened an all-morning brainstorming session there, refining their retailing philosophy as they walked the space. It was the store equivalent of Ive’s design studio, a haven where Jobs, with his visual approach, could come up with innovations by touching and seeing the options as they evolved. “I loved to wander over there on my own, just checking it out,” Jobs recalled.

http://www.cultofmac.com/168770/how-the-ceo-of-gap-helped-create-the-first-apple-store/


Johnson recalled the early design work on the retail stores, saying the company worked several months to design and construct a full-scale mock-up of the store prototype in a warehouse near Apple’s headquarters. When the team of retail and design experts had finished their work in Oct. 2000, Johnson had a revelation. He approached Jobs to say, “Steve, I think it’s wrong.” The design didn’t incorporate the digital hub that was then becoming so important to the company’s strategy, and Johnson told him, “I think we’re making a mistake. This is about digital future, not just about products.” Jobs replied, “Do you know what you’re saying? Do you know we have to start over?”

Jobs stormed off to his office, but returned within an hour in a better mood, having realized that virtually every great project at Apple, “had been shelved and started over.” For example, Johnson said the current iMac design was considered finalized–and then the design was tossed out and the process was restarted, to eventually come up with the current design.

http://www.ifoapplestore.com/stores/risd_johnson.html