Steve Jobs on Customer-Led Innovation: Design Beyond Requests
What Jobs talks about
In this panel discussion, Jobs’s words are used to argue that customers usually describe incremental improvements, not entirely new products. The discussion centers on the idea that companies have to look beyond what people ask for.
The panel uses examples like the iPhone, electric cars, and MacBook to explain how breakthrough products often arrive before customers can picture them. The point is that design and innovation require anticipating needs, not just reacting to requests.
The broader takeaway is that businesses should listen to customers, but not be limited by them. Real innovation comes from creating solutions people didn’t know to ask for yet.
Jobs is quoted within a panel discussion; several other participants speak and respond.
In his words
“It's not the customer job to know what you all want”
“Customer is looking based on what's already exist”
“Customer, usually, think... We sign the... Their own experiences.”
“Companies must design the solutions”
“Innovation happens when designer looks beyond what people ask for”
Key points
- Customers often know their current problems, but not the full shape of the solution.
- Companies should not rely only on customer requests to define innovation.
- Breakthrough products are often hard to imagine before they exist.
- The iPhone is used as an example of a product that changed expectations.
- Electric cars are cited as another case where people could not easily foresee the product.
- Designers should create what people truly need, not just what they say they want.
Full transcript
Hello, everyone. Hello. Sup? Hi, sir. Nice to meet you. Miss... As said, I... It's not the customer job to know what you all want... What I want from the Steve Jobs. So what did you mean to think about this? So you don't know what they mean? Oh, yeah. In my opinion, what he meant is customer is looking based on what's already exist. They might ask for small improvement, but we can't only imagine or something completely new. So it's the company's job to understand users' need and preference to, you know, create a completely new features or new projects.
For example, before the iPhone, before only one better keyboard and longer battery, The one asked for a full screen phone that could act like a mini in computer apps. So I already claimed that what the sleep shop name. I I agree with this quote because customer, usually, think... We sign the... Their own experiences. They ask for small improvement, not big innovation. For example, cars... Before energy cars, customer only ask for better fuels efficiency. They didn't imagine a car like Tesla.
Yes. So I have an opinion. Customer or person cannot imagine crypto product before they exist. It is the company responsibility to anticipate either need and previous solution data driven the expectation rather than lying, so lightly on customer request. What about you? Do you have any sample about service? I I I first. Mhmm. I think iPhone is and, you know, they introduced the users and they completely new phone that have no keyboard, only touch screens.
And iPhone now is still going on that way to minimize the button on the phone and focus on the face screens. This mean that customer often don't imagine new products until they actually see them. I think this is to... From customer is valuable and improvement, but innovation coming to a confirmation and creativity beyond their current expectation. So we want electric car... Make electric car is new before that, and what does it benefit for our life?
I think electric car is friendly... Eco friendly, than feels like a normal car. Okay. Yeah. It's a. So... Alright. Yeah. I don't remember what we talked. Are we talking about what? I see. What project we talked about? Can you speak with me? What project we talked about? From Steve Jobs or anyone? Example. What? Your example. Yeah. Example. Yes. I think it's MacBook. MacBook.
So same thing. Same thing, but I think it's a... In the other side, still just the... We have the... Like, before everyone use Okay. So to end, end our discussion, the calls reminds businesses to think of fierce deeply. Customer know their problems, but, companies must design the solutions. Innovation happens when designer looks beyond what people ask for and create what they truly need.
That's all. Companies that have a reason to know what will be trending on customer line and, you know,. Yeah. So thank thank you guys for our discussion. And thank you for listening to us this... Our discussion. Goodbye. Bye bye.
Transcribed from the audio by speech recognition (Deepgram). Timestamps link to the video above. Errors are possible.