Inside Steve''''s Brain Business Lessons from Steve Jobs, the Man Who Saved Apple by Leander Kahney_10 pot

Johnson explained:“We didn’t think about their experience in the store.. Wesaid, ‘let’s design this store around their life experience.’ ” Second, “We said, we want our stores to create

spend as much as possible But Jobs and Johnson askedthemselves how the products would fit into the context ofcustomers’ lives, their life experience Johnson explained:

“We didn’t think about their experience in the store Wesaid, ‘let’s design this store around their life experience.’ ”

Second, “We said, we want our stores to create anownership experience for the customer,” explainedJohnson The store should be about the lifetime of theproduct, not the moment of the transaction At many stores,the purchase ends the relationship with the store At Applestores, “We like to think that’s where it begins.”

“So first we made a list,” Johnson said “Enrich lives—how do you do it?” They decided the store should carry onlythe right stuff Too much merchandise confuses customers.Johnson learned the benefits of limiting choice at Target.Some of Target’s executives wanted to stock the shelveswith as many products as possible At one time, Targetcarried thirty-one toaster models But Johnson learned thatthe leading retailer in kitchen supply—Williams Sonoma—stocked only two toasters “It’s not about broadassortment,” he said “It’s about the right assortment.” 35

Jobs and Johnson also decided customers should beencouraged to test-drive all the products At the time, mostcomputer stores had working models on display, butcustomers couldn’t load up software or connect to the Net

or download pictures from their digital camera At theApple stores, customers would be free to test all aspects of

a machine before they bought it

At first, Jobs pondered the idea of opening a few storesand seeing what happened But on Mickey Drexler’sadvice, Jobs had a secret mockup store built in awarehouse close to Apple’s Cupertino HQ The store would

be designed the same way as Apple’s products: they wouldbuild a prototype that could be refined and improved until itwas perfected

Johnson assembled a team of about twenty retail expertsand store designers, and began to experiment withdifferent store layouts To make it friendly andapproachable, the team decided to use natural materials:wood, stone, glass, and stainless steel The palette wasneutral and the stores would have very good lighting tomake the products glow Typically, there was anuncompromising attention to detail In the early days, Jobsmet with the design team for half a day each week Duringone meeting, the group exhaustively evaluated three types

of lighting just to make sure multicolored iMacs would shine

as they do in glossy print ads, according to Business 2.0

magazine “Every little element in the store is designed tothese very details,” Johnson said.36

In October 2000, after several months of work, theprototype store was nearly ready when Johnson had arevelation He realized that the store didn’t reflect Apple’sdigital hub philosophy, which put the computer at the heart

of the digital lifestyle The prototype store was laid out withcomputers in one corner and cameras in another, just like

at Best Buy Johnson realized that the store should group

at Best Buy Johnson realized that the store should groupthe computers with the cameras to show customers howthey could use the Mac to actually do things, like assemble

a book of digital photographs or burn a home movie toDVD

“Steve, I think it’s wrong,” Johnson told Jobs “I thinkwe’re making a mistake This is about digital future, not justabout products.”3 7 Johnson realized that it would be moreeffective to show customers functioning digital hubs, withcameras, camcorders, and MP3 players attached tocomputers The working machines would be arranged in

“solution zones,” showing how the Mac could be used fordigital photography, video editing, and making music—activities prospective customers would actually want to do

At first, Jobs was far from happy: “Do you know whatyou’re saying? Do you know we have to start over?” Jobsyelled, angrily storming off to his office But Jobs soon had

a change of heart Within the hour, Jobs returned toJohnson’s office in a brighter mood He told Johnson thatalmost all of Apple’s best products had been shelved andstarted over, like the iMac It was part of the process In alater interview with Fortune, Jobs said his initial reactionwas “Oh, God, we’re screwed!” but Johnson was right “Itcost us, I don’t know, six, nine months But it was the rightdecision by a million miles,” he said.38

After the redesign, the prototype store was divided intofour sections, each devoted to Johnson’s “solution zones.”One quarter at the front of the store is devoted to products,

another quarter to music and photos, the third quarter to theGenius Bar and movies, and the fourth quarter toaccessories and other products at the back of the store.The idea is to create a place where customers could findentire “solutions” to lifestyle problems they wanted solved—like taking and sharing digital pictures or editing andmaking DVDs.

The stores are designed to be a public place, like alibrary, and more than just a place to display products “Wedon’t want the store to be about the product, but about aseries of experiences that make it more than a store,”Johnson said.39

Apple makes sure the stores are always packed bygiving unlimited access to Internet computers andarranging lots of in-store events Every week, there are freeworkshops, classes, and—at the bigger stores—talks bycreative professionals and performances by bands Duringthe summer, Apple Camp attracts thousands of school kids

to take computer lessons during the traditionally quietsummer months

The bigger flagship stores would have staircases made

of glass, simply to encourage customers to climb to thesecond floor, which is traditionally lightly trafficked (Theglass staircases became major attractions and wonseveral awards.)

Cozying on Up to the Genius Bar

The most important innovation has been offering hands-ontraining and support at the Genius Bar In 2000, computerrepairs could take several weeks Customers had to phonetech support, ship the machine to the company, and wait for

it to be returned “That’s not enriching someone’s life,”Johnson said.40 Apple decided it would offer turnaround onrepairs in days, rivaling service at the neighborhood drycleaner

The Genius Bar has become the most distinctive feature

of Apple’s stores, and the most popular Customers lovethat they’re able to troubleshoot problems face to face, ordrop off malfunctioning equipment at the local mall ratherthan send it in “Customers love our Genius Bars,” Johnsonsaid

Apple estimated that in 2006, more than one millionpeople visited the Genius Bars during an average week Atthe flagship stores, there are often lines of people waitingfor the Genius Bar before the store has opened They arealmost too successful Thanks to the phenomenal growth invisitors to the stores, the Genius Bars are becomingoversubscribed, and many have implemented appointmentschedules to cope with the demand

The idea of a Genius Bar came from customers.Johnson asked a focus group what was their bestexperience with customer service, anywhere Most

mentioned the concierge desk at hotels, which is there tohelp, not sell Johnson realized it might be a good idea toinstall a concierge desk for computers He thought it could

be like a friendly neighborhood bar, where the bartenderdispensed free advice instead of booze

When Johnson first suggested the idea to Jobs, his bosswas skeptical Jobs liked the idea of face-to-face support,but having known a lot of geeks, Jobs was afraid theywouldn’t have the people skills to deal with the public ButJohnson persuaded him that most young people are veryfamiliar with computers and they would have little troublehiring personable, service-oriented staffers who wereproficient with technology

The most significant idea Johnson had about staffingwas to dispense with sales commissions, which are prettystandard in consumer electronics retailing “People thought

I was crazy at Apple,” he said.4 1 But Johnson didn’t wantthe stores to become sales-driven pressure cookers Hewanted the staff in the customers’ hearts, not their wallets

Apple staffers must gently persuade customers—many

of them Windows users who are skeptical about Apple—toswitch to the Mac Johnson knew that for most potentialcustomers, this wasn’t going to be a snap decision Theywere likely to visit the store three or four times before takingthe plunge, and the last thing Johnson wanted wascustomers worrying that the guy they started with wasn’t onduty

Instead of paying commissions, Johnson decided toenhance their status The best staff would graduate to aMac Genius or a presenter in the theater “Your job iselevated to positions of status such as I’m a Mac Genius.I’m the smartest Mac person in town People request me onthe Internet, to come meet me at the store so I can helpthem,” Johnson said “My job is to make the store rich withexperience for people.”

The lack of a commission elevates the job from a purelymercantile position, and makes it much more like aprofession Even though many of the staff work part-time, orare paid by the hour, they enjoy some of the status of aprofessional Johnson says, “It’s not the boring, laboriousI’ve-got-to-move-merchandise-and-take-care-of-customerproblems I’m suddenly enriching people’s lives And that’show we select, that’s how we motivate, that’s how we trainour people.” This is classic Apple, of course: even retailhas been instilled with a sense of mission

Apple tries to recruit creative computerphiles fresh out ofschool, the kind of kids who think working at the Applestore would be a good first job As an incentive, Appleoffers in-house training While working at the store, staffmembers are taught how to use professional softwareapplications like Final Cut Pro, Garageband, and otherapplications that may prove useful later on The turnoverrate is relatively low for retail: about 20 percent, when theindustry average is above 50 percent, according to Apple

The stores are evolving from well-designed shopping

centers into learning environments Apple has been addingadditional advice “bars” at some of the bigger stores,including an iPod bar for advice and repair, and a Studiobar to help customers with creative projects, like makingmovies or laying out photo books The idea of free advicebars is beginning to spread to other retailers Whole Foodsgrocery, for example, in 2006 started experimenting with anadvice bar for recipes and ingredients at a store in Austin,Texas.

When most computer companies sell their wares at volume big box stores, and offer support only by phone,Apple’s stores are a radically different proposition.Johnson calls the stores “high touch,” a phrase that meansdealing with a human instead of a computer The term issometimes used to mean good customer service.Nordstrom and Starbucks are said to be high touch, but noone had tried it with computers “In a high-tech world,wouldn’t it be nice to have some high touch?” Johnson said.Jobs and Johnson decided to put good service intocomputer shopping and change the way people shoppedfor technology

high-The retail stores demonstrate Apple’s innovation at work.The philosophy, design, and layout came from the digitalhub strategy, and the execution from Jobs’suncompromising focus on the customer experience

Lessons from Steve

• Don’t lose sight of the customer. The Cubebombed because it was built for designers, not

• Study the market and the industry Jobs isconstantly looking to see what new technologies arecoming down the pike

• Don’t consciously think about innovation.

Systemizing innovation is like watching Michael Delltry to dance. Painful

• Concentrate on products Products are thegravitational force that pulls it all together

• Remember that motives make a difference.

Concentrate on great products, not becoming thebiggest or the richest

• Steal. Be shameless about stealing other people’sgreat ideas

• Connect. For Jobs, creativity is simply connectingthings

• Study. Jobs is a keen student of art, design, andarchitecture He evens runs around parking lotslooking at Mercedeses

• Be flexible Jobs dropped a lot of long-cherishedtraditions that made Apple special—and kept itsmall

• Burn the boats Jobs killed the most popular iPod

to make room for a new, thinner model Burn theboats, and you must stand and fight

• Prototype. Even Apple’s stores were developedlike every other product: protoyped, edited, andrefined

• Ask customers. The popular Genius Bar came fromcustomers.

Chapter 7 Case Study: How It All Came Together

with the iPod

“Software is the user experience As the iPod and iTunes prove, it has become the driving technology not just of computers but of consumer electronics.”

—Steve Jobs

The iPod is the product that transformed Apple from astruggling PC company into an electronics powerhouse.How the iPod came together illustrates a lot of the pointsdiscussed in previous chapters: It was the product of smallteams working closely together It was born of Jobs’sinnovation strategy: the digital hub Its design was guided

by an understanding of the customer experience—how tonavigate a big library of digital tunes It came togetherthrough Apple’s iterative design process, and some of thekey ideas came from unlikely sources (the scroll wheel wassuggested by an advertising executive, not a designer).Many of the key components were sourced from outsidethe company, but Apple combined them in a unique,innovative way And it was designed in such secrecy thatnot even Jobs knew that Apple had already trademarkedthe iPod name

But most of all, the iPod was truly a team effort “We had

a lot of brainstorming sessions,” explained one insider.

“Products at Apple happen very organically There [are] lots

of meetings, with lots of people, lots of ideas It’s a teamapproach.”1

Revisiting the Digital Hub

Necessity is the mother of invention Apple started writingapplication software for OS X because other companiesbalked, and it’s turned out to be another golden opportunityfor the company

In 2000, the iMac was leading the charge for Apple’scomeback, but Jobs’s attempts to persuade developers towrite software for OS X was getting a mixed reception

Jobs’s deal with Bill Gates ensured that Microsoft wouldproduce new versions of Office and its Internet Explorerbrowser for OS X But Adobe, one of the biggest softwaremakers for the Mac, had flatly refused to adopt itsconsumer-level software for OS X

“They said flat-out no,” Jobs told Fortune magazine “Wewere shocked, because they had been a big supporter inthe early days of the Mac But we said, ‘Okay, if nobodywants to help us, we’re just going to have to do thisourselves.’ ”

At the same time, consumers were beginning to buy lots

of devices designed to be plugged into computers—Palm