Imagine returning to head a large company you founded after a huge gap. It’s undoubtedly a massive responsibility. Now, envision that upon your return, during a Q&A session, you were confronted with a disrespectful question from an audience member.

The year was 1997, at the Worldwide Developer Conference. At this event, Steve Jobs demonstrated one of his most remarkable performances, emphasizing the importance of user experience and how it should be at the heart of everything we do when creating successful products. He believed UX was the most critical factor in a product’s success, making this clear as strategic to leveraging Apple.

Jobs had some fundamental lessons that he followed:

✔ Lesson 1: Focus on the user experience.

Jobs believed technology and ideas alone were insufficient to create a successful product. Placing user experience as our top priority is crucial. We must consider how our products integrate into people’s lives and how they will engage with them.

“User experience is the summary of everything”. — Steve Jobs

✔ Lesson 2: Think beyond the micro and consider the macro.

Regardless of how great the technology or idea is, it needs coherence from a broader perspective. Our focus should be on contemplating the alignment of our products with people’s lifestyles and their potential interactions with them.

✔ Lesson 3: Start with the user experience and work backwards into the technology.

A key aspect we must consider is how users will utilize our product and the challenges it can address for them. We must design with empathy. Putting ourselves in our users’ shoes is essential.

In addition, Steve Jobs gained recognition for his readiness to embrace risk and experiment with novel ideas. In his opinion, those who fearlessly put their thoughts to the test generate the most exceptional ideas.

Even now, Apple’s culture fosters such experimentation, contributing significantly to the company’s innovation.