Technological innovation requires solving difficult technical problems, right? Well, yes. And no. As the Apple Macintosh turns 40, what started with Apple prioritizing the squishy concept of “user experience” in its 1984 flagship product is clearly vindicated today by its blockbuster products since then.
It turns out that designing for usability, efficiency, accessibility, elegance and fun is worth the effort. Apple’s market capitalization now exceeds $2.8 trillion, and the brand is as associated with the term “design” as the top fashion houses in New York and Milan. Apple has turned technology into fashion 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 seemed more like a movie premiere than a technology release. The commercial was actually 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. Instead, Jobs sold a product that people could use, a product that could be taken into their homes and integrated into their lives.
This wasn’t about computers anymore. IBM, Commodore and Tandy made computers. As a scholar of human-computer interaction, I believe the first Macintosh was about people becoming comfortable with a new extension of themselves, not as computer hobbyists but as everyday people. All that “computer stuff” – circuits and wires and separate motherboards and monitors – was neatly packaged and tucked away in one sleek, integrated box.
You weren’t supposed to dig in that box, and you didn’t have to—not with the Macintosh. The average user would no more think about the contents of that box than about the stitching in his clothes. Instead, they focused on the feeling that box gave them.
Beyond the mouse and desktop metaphor
Was the Macintosh, as computers call it, innovative? Certainly. But not for a specific computer breakthrough. The Macintosh wasn’t the first computer with a graphical user interface or with the desktop metaphor: icons, files, folders, windows, and so on. The Macintosh was not the first personal computer intended for the home, office or education. It wasn’t the first computer to use a mouse. It wasn’t even Apple’s first computer to have or have any of these things. The Apple Lisa, released a year earlier, had them all.
It wasn’t one technical thing that the Macintosh did first. But the Macintosh brought with it countless developments aimed at giving people an accessory — not for nerds or techno-hobbyists, but for work-at-home moms and soccer dads and eighth-graders who used it to write documents, edit spreadsheets , draw pictures and play games. . The Macintosh revolutionized the personal computer industry and everything that would follow because of its emphasis on providing a satisfying, simplified user experience.
Where computers typically had complex input strings 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 was a representation of a physical desk surface presented. . 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 showcased the concept of icons, invented in the Ph.D. thesis. The 1981 Xerox Star and the 1983 Apple Lisa had used desktop metaphors. But these systems were slow to operate and still cumbersome in many aspects of their interaction design.
The Macintosh simplified the interaction techniques required to operate a computer and improved operation to reasonable speeds. Complex keyboard commands and special keys have been replaced with point-and-click, drop-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 a user interface toolbox for application developers, allowing applications to have a standard look and feel by using common interface widgets such as buttons, menus, fonts, dialog boxes, and windows. The Macintosh flattened the learning curve for users, allowing people to feel proficient in a short time. Computer use, like clothing, was now for everyone.
A good experience
While I hesitate to use the clichés “natural” or “intuitive” when talking about fictional worlds on a screen—no one is born with an idea of what a desktop window, drop-down menu, or double-click is—the Macintosh was the first personal computer to move from the making user experience the engine of technical performance. It was indeed easy to operate, especially compared to the command line computers of the day.
While earlier systems prioritized technical capabilities, the Macintosh was intended for non-specialist users – at work, school or home – to experience a kind of out-of-the-box usability that today is not only the hallmark of the most Apple products, but also an entire industry of consumer electronics, smart devices and computers of all kinds.
According to Market Growth Reports, companies focused on offering 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 initiatives, and user interface design, among many other user experience activities.
Rarely do consumer products today succeed in the marketplace 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 central role.
It’s ironic that the Macintosh technology being commemorated in January 2024 was never really about technology. It was always about people. This is an inspiration for those looking for the next technological breakthrough, and a warning to those who want to dismiss user experience as only secondary to technological innovation.
This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit organization providing facts and analysis to help you understand our complex world.
It was written by: Jacob O. Wobbrock, University of Washington.
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I have two Ph.D. students receive Apple Ph.D. AI/ML Scholarships. This funding does not support me personally, but does support two of the Ph.D. students I have advised. They obtained these grants through competitive submissions to Apple based on an open application.