Why Steve Jobs Never Listened to His Customers

Can we stop perpetuating this myth please?<p>From <a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/07/apple-reveals-for-monday-trial/" rel="nofollow">http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/07/apple-reveals-for-mon...</a><p>""Apple is famous for eschewing market research and focus groups during the creation of new products. However, it turns out the company does research consumer sentiment on existing products in order to optimize future designs.<p>Apple conducts detailed, quarterly iPhone buyer surveys, according to a joint motion regarding the sealing of trial exhibits. "The surveys reveal, country-by-country, the factors driving customers to buy Apple products versus competitive products such as Android," court documents state. The results break down which demographics are most satisfied with Apple’s products, and how different demographics respond to different features. The results also show how consumer preferences differ country to country.<p>Apple is asking the results of these surveys only be shown to the jury when proceedings begin next week. Language in the joint motion states, "Knowing what Apple thinks about its customer base preferences is extremely valuable to Apple competitors because it would allow them to infer what product features Apple is likely to offer next, when, and in what markets."

Steve Jobs did listen to customers--more than most business executives. He famously read his own email and would write back to customers directly. He made major strategic decisions based on customer feedback, for instance by reversing direction and releasing an SDK for native apps on the iPhone.<p>He just didn't let customers set the future direction of products. The reason for that is well explained in The Innovator's Dilemma.

He was the #1 customer. I think he was building products that were good enough to use himself, because he knew that would impress others. He was a respectful narcissist.<p>Maybe I'm not using the correct words or my sight isn't accurate, but at least that's the legacy I got from his life.<p>Building something that makes you proud and you strongly believe it's the best. And convincing people to think about your product the way you do yourself.

I think the best way to work with customers (and I do believe you should) is not having theoretical discussions with them about the market or whether a new product can take off, but rather give them a number of tangible alternatives (can be mock ups) to play with and see how they react to them.

Some important things to note:<p>1. Apple spent many decades innovating things that customers weren't that interested in. It's only within the last few years that Apple really captured the public's imagination.<p>2. You don't ask customers to tell you what revolutionary product they want, because 99.9999% of the time they can't even imagine it. Imagining it is YOUR job (provided you're in the business of carving out new industries). You DO, however, ask customers about products that already exist, once they've had time to get used to them.<p>Steve Jobs knew the difference. He (usually) listened when it was appropriate to listen.

Maybe instead of saying "you should listen to your customer", we should say "you should observe and learn from your customers".

It seems like there's two sides to creating demand for a product, natural customer desire and customer desire plasticity.<p>Of course, focusing on both is the best approach. Personally, I've never gleaned the appeal of apple products. They don't seem simple or intuitive such as how they're sold, from my perspective. Maybe this is my advanced user perspective talking, but it seems like just another UI with a different terminology and tropes. A new interface to memorize. So from this perspective, the trick is getting users to want to invest time and money in that new system. In that, apple is quite successful.

&#62; When asked why he bristled at his peers’ suggestion, Johnson responded, "We didn't test at Apple.”<p>That is pretty funny, obviously he didn't realize JC Penney is a completely different beast from Apple. People shop at JC Penney for price drops, not for quality products.

I think the title is wrong. Steve jobs listened to his customers and their feedback but never asked them - what should we develop next or what type of computer, music player or phone you like to have?

CEOs who don't listen to their customers end up unemployed quickly.

Never?