by Technological innovation requires solving hard technical problems, right? Well, yes. And no. With the Apple Macintosh 40 years old, what started when Apple prioritized the concept of “user experience” in its flagship product in 1984 is clearly protected today by its products big since.
It turns out that design pays for usability, efficiency, accessibility, elegance and delight. Apple’s market capitalization is now over US$2.8 trillion, and its brand is associated with the term “design” like the best fashion houses in New York or Milan. Apple turned technology into fashion, and did it through user experience.
It started with the Macintosh.
When Apple announced the Macintosh personal computer with a Super Bowl XVIII television commercial on January 22, 1984, it was more like a movie premiere than a technology release. In fact, the commercial was directed by filmmaker Ridley Scott. That’s because founder Steve Jobs knew he wasn’t just selling computing power, storage or a desktop publishing solution. Rather, Jobs was selling a product for people to use, a product to bring into their homes and integrate into their lives.
This was no longer about computing. IBM, Commodore and Tandy made computers. As a scholar of human-computer interaction, I believe that the first Macintosh was about people becoming comfortable with a new extension of themselves, not as computer hobbyists but as ordinary people. All that “computer stuff” – circuits and wires and motherboards and separate monitors – was neatly packaged and hidden inside one slim integrated box.
You weren’t supposed to dig into that box, and you didn’t have to dig into that box—not with the Macintosh. The average user wouldn’t think about what’s in that box any more than they think about the stitching in their clothes. Instead, they would focus on how that box made them feel.
Over the mouse and desktop metaphor
As computers go, was the Macintosh innovative? Definitely. But not for any particular computer. The Macintosh was not the first computer to have a graphical user interface or use the desktop metaphor: icons, files, folders, windows and so on. The Macintosh was not the first personal computer intended for home, office or educational use. He was not the first computer to use a mouse. It was not even the first computer from Apple to be or have any of these things. The Apple Lisa, released a year earlier, had them all.
The Macintosh wasn’t just a technical thing at first. But the Macintosh brought together many advances in giving people an accessory – not for geeks or techno-hobbyists, but for home office moms and soccer dads and eighth graders who used it to document write, organize spreadsheets, make drawings and play games. . The Macintosh revolutionized the personal computer industry and everything that followed because of its emphasis on providing a satisfying, simplified user experience.
Where computers typically had complex input sequences in the form of typed commands (Unix, MS-DOS) or multi-button mice (Xerox STAR, Commodore 64), the Macintosh used a desktop metaphor in which the computer screen represented a physical desktop surface present. . Users could click directly on files and folders on the desktop to open them. It also had a one-button mouse that allowed users to click, double-click and drag and drop icons without typing commands.
The Xerox Alto had first demonstrated the concept of icons, conceived in a Ph.D. thesis. The 1981 Xerox Star and 1983 Apple Lisa used desktop metaphors. But these systems were slow to operate and still very difficult in many aspects of their interaction design.
The Macintosh simplified the interaction techniques required to operate a computer and improved performance at reasonable speeds. Complex keyboard commands and dedicated keys were replaced with point-and-click operations, pull-down menus, draggable windows and icons, and system-wide undo, cut, copy and paste. Unlike the Lisa, the Macintosh could only run one program at a time, but this simplified the user experience.
The Macintosh also provided application developers with a user interface toolbox, which enables applications to have a standard look and feel by using common interface widgets such as buttons, menus, fonts, dialog boxes, and windows. With the Macintosh, the learning curve for users was broadened, enabling people to feel competent in short order. Computing, like clothes, was now for everyone.
Good experience
Although I hesitate to use the clichés “natural” or “intuitive” when it comes to life on a screen – no one was born knowing what a desktop window, drop-down menu or double-click was – the Macintosh was the first personal computer put user experience ahead of technical achievement. It was indeed simple to operate, especially compared to command-line computers at the time.
While previous systems prioritized technical prowess, the Macintosh was aimed at non-specialist users – at work, school or home – to experience the kind of out-of-the-box usability that today is a hallmark not only of most Apple products. but on Apple products. the value of consumer electronics, smart devices and computers of all kinds across the entire industry.
According to Market Growth Reports, companies focused on providing user experience tools and services were worth $548.91 million in 2023 and are expected to reach $1.36 billion by 2029. User experience companies provide software and services to support usability testing , user research, voice of customer initiative and user interface design, among many other user experience activities.
Consumer products today rarely succeed in the market based on functionality alone. Consumers expect a good user experience and will pay a premium for it. The Macintosh started that obsession and demonstrated its centrality.
Ironically, the Macintosh technology being celebrated in January 2024 wasn’t really about technology at all. It was always about people. This is an inspiration to those who want to make the next step in technology, and a warning to those who dismiss the user experience as a secondary concern in technological innovation.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a non-profit, independent news organization that brings you facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world.
It was written by: Jacob O. Wobbrock, University of Washington.
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There are two Ph.D. students receive a Ph.D. AI/ML Fellowships. This funding does not support me personally, but it does support two Ph.D. students who recommended me. They earned these fellowships through competitive submissions to Apple based on an open solicitation.
