Juli Clover:
Apple’s Vice President of Human Interface Greg Christie is set to depart from the company after clashing with Jony Ive, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design who oversees and guides the Human Interface teams, reports 9to5Mac. Ive first took on a role “providing leadership” for the Human Interface teams in late 2012, following Scott Forstall’s departure from the company.
Christie has led much of Apple’s software design and reports to Craig Federighi, who oversees development of iOS and OS X, but Christie interacts with Ive during design meetings. Christie’s team was responsible for redesigning iOS 7, which reportedly led to disagreements with Ive.
I’ll buy Apple’s line about why Scott Forstall is out, but this is troubling. While at least some of iOS 7’s troubles may be Christie’s fault, I tend to think Ive needs strong UI designers around him. We don’t know the full story, but I worry that Ive being all-powerful in this realm won’t end well.
Update: Gruber dismisses the drama in the 9to5 story, claiming this is more or less a simple retirement.