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← People and their mental models

Steve Jobs's mental models

3 claims Steve Jobs made fit 3 mental models. Most often: Less, but better, Taste is trained, You are not the user. Everything they said here.

Models they name

Their own words name the idea.

Taste is trained

Taste is learned by exposing yourself to the best work and asking why it works.

Others who think with this model

Dylan FieldJason YuanKarri SaarinenThiago CostaBrandon JacobyJeff Deanand 2 more

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Great work comes down to taste: exposing yourself to the best things humans have done and bringing them into your own.

  1. Steve Jobs by American entrepreneur (1955 to 2011) Ultimately it comes down to taste. It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done and then try to bring those things in to what you're doing. Triumph of the Nerds, part 3 (PBS, 1996): transcriptweb.archive.org · by 26 Dec 1996All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsUltimately it comes down to taste. It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done and then try to bring those things in to what you're doing.

    ↗Triumph of the Nerds, part 3 (PBS, 1996): transcriptweb.archive.org

    by 26 Dec 1996

Models we see in what they say

Our reading: their claim applies the idea without naming it. The claim is theirs; filing it here is ours.

Less, but better

Find the essence and cut the rest; simplicity is hard work, not the absence of effort.

Others who think with this model

Edsger W. DijkstraJason YuanJohn MaedaDieter RamsPaul GrahamRich Hickeyand 1 more

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Focus and simplicity are worth the work: simple can be harder than complex, because the thinking has to be got clean, but once there one can move mountains.

  1. Steve Jobs American entrepreneur (1955 to 2011) Everything just got simpler. That's been one of my mantras -- focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains. Steve Jobs: 'There's sanity returning' (Business Week, May 1998): Q&Aweb.archive.org · 14 May 1998All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsEverything just got simpler. That's been one of my mantras -- focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

    ↗Steve Jobs: 'There's sanity returning' (Business Week, May 1998): Q&Aweb.archive.org

    14 May 1998

You are not the user

Watch real people use the real thing; your own sense of what is obvious does not count as evidence.

Others who think with this model

Don NormanPaul GrahamJason YuanJulie ZhuoPablo StanleyRahul Vohraand 1 more

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It is really hard to design products by focus groups, because people often do not know what they want until they are shown it.

  1. Steve Jobs American entrepreneur (1955 to 2011) But in the end, for something this complicated, it's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them. Steve Jobs: 'There's sanity returning' (Business Week, May 1998): Q&Aweb.archive.org · 14 May 1998All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsBut in the end, for something this complicated, it's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.

    ↗Steve Jobs: 'There's sanity returning' (Business Week, May 1998): Q&Aweb.archive.org

    14 May 1998