Event Design is how it works

A black-and-white image of Apple's Steve Jobs with the caption: "Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works."“Design is how it works” is the favorite thing Apple software engineer Ken Kocienda heard Steve Jobs say.

Here’s Steve:

“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it [a product] looks like. People think it’s this veneer—that the designers are headed this box and told, “Make it look good!” That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.
—Steve Jobs, The Guts of a New Machine, 2003 New York Times interview

If only we applied Steve’s insight to event design.

Good event design is not just about look and feel. It’s not just about novel venues, decor, food and beverage, and productionDressing up standard conference process with razzle-dazzle glitz isn’t good event design either.

Good event design is about how a conference works.

This implies that good event design requires thinking about issues like:

You always have a choice. Keep on dressing up the same-old same-old in different clothes. Or think about designing what happens at your events.

Because event design is how it works.

HT to Ken Kocienda for sharing the Steve quote in his excellent book: Inside Apple’s design process during the golden age of Steve Jobs [Page 187]

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