Book review: "Creative Selection: Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs" by Ken Kocienda
If you are a real Apple fanboy, “Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography” by Walter Isaacson is a must-read. There are plenty of other books about the company and their path to success, including “Creative Selection: Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs” by Ken Kocienda. Recommended by one of my favourite podcasters from the Apple community, I decided to give it a go.
Ken Kocienda was a lead engineer and designer for over fifteen years at Apple. He participated in designing many revolutionary products from Cupertino’s brand. To name a few, the Safari web browser, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. This book is about the internal process and close collaboration between the engineering team and key decision makers (Steve Jobs, Philip Schiller, Tony Fadell and a few others) at Apple during its golden age.
Despite many exciting facts about the Safari development process, touch keyboard design and Steve’s drive to invisible design, I found the last chapter about Apple’s recipe for success the most interesting. The author emphasizes the importance of close collaboration within a team, strong focus on the goals and, simply put, hard work as key factors to great success.
Good read. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the company and the design process of world-leading products from an insider’s point of view.