Question

How was the AppleWatch team built? What skills were needed and what were the main tasks assigned to team members?

Answer 1

The talent brought in by Apple for the Watch shows not only a reluctance to compromise on product design and production but also a reluctance to compromise on talent. What sets the Watch apart from previous Apple products is that it is their first unabashedly luxurious offering, as well as being a mass-produced product whose versatility is desired by wearers. In response, Apple recruited such glamorous and watch-experienced talent as: Marc Newson, British luxury watch designer and Safilo's read glasses designer; Kevin Lynch, formerly CTO at Adobe, and formerly an outspoken Apple critic; Paul Deneve, former CEO and Chairman of the iconic Yves Saint Laurent luxury brand; Angela Ahrendts, former CEO of Burberry; and Patrick Pruniaux, from watch-maker Tag Heuer, a part of the L.V.M.H. luxury conglomerate.

Apple had hired-in a pose of health-monitoring talent that was stunning in breadth and expertise, including Jay Blahnik and Nike design director Ben Shaffer, both of whom had been working on Nike's FuelBand's design and development. The Apple Watch's final shape resembles one of the earlier watches by Marc Newson, and the Cartier Santos of 1904, which is both a testament to the experience of the team and a desire to learn from everywhere.

Prototyping is also a part of speeding up interactions and making feedback more reliable. Apple installed the first prototype into the project with the Watch for six weeks, and apparently it was nothing more than "an iPhone fitted with a Velcro band. With a simulator showing an Apple Watch Life-size image on the phone. And a custom dongle, an actual watch crown that plugged into the cord jack into the bottom of the handset. "Because the Watch was seen as a foil for the iPhone's dictatorship, the use of an iPhone as the first prototype is synonymous with both irony and genie. Apple's design project teams usually work 12 hour workdays, and while each project has a lead designer, "nearly everyone contributes to each project and shares the credit through team meetings conducted two or three times a week in the kitchen."