Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple Apple's success is built on design thinking, simplicity, and excellence in execution. Under Steve Jobs, Apple prioritized understanding user needs and designing intuitive products. Jobs insisted on iterative customer involvement and usability testing. Apple also focused on beautiful design, platform strategy for future products, and timely launches of high-quality products. Jobs' vision drove Apple to create wonderful products through discipline, talent, and his leadership. Going forward, Apple will need to adapt and innovate more broadly to succeed without Jobs.