Complicated hero of designers everywhere, he uncomplicated design…

… and made everyone a designer—and a fan (or a critic) of design

I’ve been accused, over the years, of believing in very deeply Steve Jobs’ message of good design within reach of all of us—and I do. Whether you’re an Apple acolyte or you avoid the trendy buggers like the plague—the computer you use, the websites you visit, the typefaces you print letters with, your music collection, the phone you carry in your pocket, and dozens of other products and Experiences all around you have been irrevocably changed by Steve Jobs’ devotion to the ideal of clean, easy, uncomplicatedly usable products—often, products once reserved for business and tech use only.

Either you’ve bought into it, or the companies who make the products you own have, if for no other reason than to keep playing catch-up with Apple’s constant stream of innovations (another subject near and dear to our hearts here at MCE).

He started the smallest of small businesses (just like you?), and kept his Pinpoint focus, from day 1 to the end of his fabled tenure with the company that changed the world. Here’s to him:

Steve Jobs featured on Maximum Customer Experience:

3 Critical Lessons You Can Learn From the Big Boys (and One You Can’t)

Firm Growth (Not) Guaranteed

Warning: Some Friends Don’t Want You To Be Like Steve Jobs

How To Knock It Out of the Park

Amazingly, This Is Not About the 2008–09 Recession

If The Beatles Hadn’t Been The Beatles

10 Sneaky Ways To Capture 10% of Your Market

13 Ways To Be Like Steve Jobs—Don’t!

I want to put a ding in the universe.
—Steve Jobs (1955–2011)

You did, Steve. Good night.

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson