I spend a lot of time reading about design processes, comparing and contrasting different approaches found within design savvy organizations. Although I have read about Apple Computer’s design process several times, last night I took a refresher.

The essence of Apple’s approach to design is 10-3-1. The basics of the process are fairly simple:
- Designers come up with 10 entirely different solutions for the product (this applies to all features, software and products)
- Later those 10 designs are whittled down to 3
- Fianally, a winner is selected and built

For each of the 14 phases of the process, pixel perfect mock-ups are generated. This “removes ambiguity” in the design development process, which ultimately results in less revisions down the road. Considering the number of products (both software and hardware) that Apple generates, it is amazing that Apple is able to design 14 pixel-perfect design candidates for every 1 it delivers to the market.

Check out the Business Week write up on Apple’s design process here >