Tony Fadell on The Secret of Great Design
I recently finished reading Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making by Tony Fadell. The book looks at Tony's career in tech, starting at General Magic and Philips, moving to his time at Apple designing the iPod and iPhone, and then onto his work creating the Nest Learning Thermostat. In addition to being an author, Tony is an investor and advisor at Future Shape, mentoring startups with his experience and knowledge from many years as a designer, creator, team leader, and CEO.
Build is full of insights and interesting details into the products he helped create, a few of which I’ve shared as weekly quotes. Tony writes about the challenges of managing growing org charts, managing crises, developing the user experience, marketing, building a culture, and how successful companies work with their legal teams to best avoid one of the hazards of a successful and disruptive startup - litigation.
Overcoming Habituation
In this TED talk from 2015, Fadell talks about the need to overcome habituation as a critical driver for successful design and improved user experience. He offers three tips to get better at this::
Look Broader
Look Closer
Think Younger
Number three is something I see as my kids grow up. Kids haven't been habituated to the way things are, and they aren't afraid to probe why something is the way it is. You'veYou've probably seen this too if you are a parent or close to kids. It'sIt's worth taking note of how powerful that perspective can be.
Staying Beginners
Tony talks about how Steve Jobs wanted the teams at Apple to stay beginners. This is why Apple puts so much thought into not just interface and hardware but also the little things like shipping the original iPod with a charged battery or even the packaging design. Apple realizes that reducing friction is essential, especially for new customers, so their products aren't just easy to get out of their boxes; the process is elegant, and the device is ready to use.
Developing an Idea
If you've read Build, you'll recognize some of the stories and narrative devices that Tony used at TED in 2015 are weaved into the narrative of his book, published about seven years later. It's inspiring to see how ideas can simmer and continue to develop and improve over time.
It seems that Tony has followed his own advice throughout his career, from his time creating portable electronic devices at General Magic to his work on making the iPod, iPhone, and Nest Thermostat. He iterated, made mistakes, surrounded himself with other driven people, and found incredible success in developing some of our favorite products. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that's what makes this book so great. It's part autobiography, part strategy session, and entirely his lived experience that we can all benefit from reading.
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