Apple CEO John Ternus is more closely involved in the work of the company’s industrial design and user interface teams than senior executives in the past. According to information provided by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Ternus works with teams in Apple’s design studio several days a week, and on some days he visits the studio more than once. This approach is particularly notable following management changes in Apple’s design organization after Jony Ive left the company in 2019. The company has long lacked a manager who concentrated all design decisions in one hand, as in the Ive era. Although Ternus does not officially hold the title of chief designer, he seems to have become the most senior decision maker above the two main design groups.
The foundations of this change were laid before Ternus took over as CEO. Jeff Williams, Apple’s former chief operating officer, took over administrative responsibility for the company’s design teams following the departure of Jony Ive. After Williams left his position last year, Apple announced that the industrial design and human interface teams would be assigned to then-CEO Tim Cook. According to Bloomberg, this responsibility for daily operation gradually passed to John Ternus. This role became one of Ternus’ key responsibilities during his transition to CEO. Considering Ternus’s close relationship with product development processes, having previously managed Apple’s hardware engineering organization, his focus on the design side overlaps to a certain extent with his background within the company.
John Ternus takes direct role on Apple design teams
Ternus’ presence in design processes is not limited to receiving presentations from managers. According to Gurman’s sources, the Apple CEO is directly involved in the work of the industrial design and user interface teams and spends time in the studio several times a week. It is also stated that he visits the teams more than once on some days. This way of working is a marked departure from the approach used during the Tim Cook era. According to Bloomberg, Cook visited the design studio on average once a month. Ternus’ more frequent presence allows design decisions to be shaped over a shorter line of communication with the company’s top management level.
Another agenda item in Apple’s design organization is the employee losses experienced in recent years. The company lost some of its experienced designers to other companies in the technology sector. The transfer of Alan Dye, one of the leading names in human interface design, to Meta was one of the most striking examples of these separations. In addition, OpenAI has acquired many people working in different fields than Apple. In order to fill the gaps, Apple moves younger designers within the team to higher positions and hires new employees from outside. Ternus allocating more time to its design teams also allows the reshaped staff to work directly with the company management.
Despite this, there is no sign that Apple plans to appoint a single Chief Design Officer similar to the Jony Ive era. The company is not currently seeking outside directors for this type of position, according to Bloomberg. Instead, Molly Anderson on the industrial design side and Steve Lemay on the human interface side serve as the prominent managers of the teams. It is stated that broader decisions in both design areas fall under the responsibility of John Ternus. Thus, instead of returning to the model of a single chief designer, Apple keeps different areas of expertise under separate managers and provides final coordination at the CEO level.
The fact that John Ternus does not have a traditional designer background is the most obvious difference of this structure from the Jony Ive period. Ternus worked on Apple’s hardware engineering side for many years and was particularly interested in the development processes of Mac, iPad and other devices. Therefore, it can be expected that the approach to design decisions will be linked to issues such as manufacturability, engineering requirements and product development schedule as well as aesthetics. However, the CEO’s regular presence in the design studio shows that Apple continues to closely monitor the physical design and software interface of products at the senior management level. The extent to which this will translate into visible changes in the company’s upcoming products will be understood as the design approach of the Ternus period becomes more evident over time.