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Jony Ive: Customers Can Sense When You Care

By Jony Ive · Product & Building · 1 min read

We sense when there's been care taken with a product. Just in the same way, we sense carelessness. Sadly, most of our manufactured environment testifies to a degree of carelessness.

Key Points

We sense when there's been care taken — and we sense carelessness
Most manufacturing testifies to carelessness: get it built fast, make it cheap, make it look different
You can make something by hand poorly, and you can mass-produce something with incredible care

I believe we sense when there's been care taken with a product. Just in the same way, we sense carelessness.

We Sense Care

Ive: One of the things I've come to feel really strongly — I believe we sense, we couldn't articulate why, I can't articulate why, but I believe we sense when there's been care taken with a product. Just in the same way, we sense carelessness.

Sadly, most of our manufactured environment testifies to a degree of carelessness. It testifies to — get it built fast, make it cheap, make it look different. There's just that sort of carelessness.

We sense when there's been care taken. Just in the same way, we sense carelessness.

Mass Production Can Be Beautiful

Ive: One of the things we strive to do for humanity — it's a way that we can serve — is to take care.

There was a guy called Pugin who led a movement articulating the evils of mass production, saying it was Godless and without integrity. I think that was absolutely ridiculous. Because you can make something as a craftsperson poorly, without care. And you can make something in high volume with incredible care. And obviously vice versa.

You can make something by hand poorly. You can mass-produce something with incredible care.