# Michael Darius

> Apple pioneer, skeuomorph & protégé of Steve Jobs

There are ZERO benefits to working with an Apple designer, except:

1. Adopting vetted processes for identifying user needs & solving wicked design problems plaguing humanity.

2. Ensuring that every experience, micro interaction & signature moment that someone has with your app leaves them wanting more.

3. Ensuring every touchpoint tells your brand story.

4. Understanding how to write clear descriptions for submitting your App without embellished language into the App Store for easy acceptance into Apple's deliberate App Store approval processes.

5. Establishing holistic processes for describing your value offering across every touchpoint.

6. Learning how important & integral security principles are to the design process.

7. Developing a design pattern & system library to differentiate your value proposition from the rest of the world.

8. Educating your team about the daily importance of refactoring to software design patterns.

9.  Building a team around a more timeless way of building.

10. Developing market positioning and instructional language that differentiates your message from the rest of the world.

 Things I Started: 
💌 Apple Webmail
🕸️ Web 2.0
🎁 Apple’s first gift card experience
🎵 iTunes Music Store
⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ Star ratings
🔒 Login using Email address
🎛️ Mac OS X Dashboard
☁️ Cloud-based Storage (iDisk)
☁️ Cloud-based Services (iTools & .Mac)
🔖 .Mac Bookmarks
🎧 Pepsi 1 in 3 Free Song Campaign
🎶 iTunes Producer
🎼 iTunes Essentials
🎸 Garageband
🎧 Playlist Sharing
🖼️ iLife
🖥️ The digital hub strategy
💻 The digital lifestyle
🛍️ Apple Retail
🔭 Apple’s Internet Observatory
    Apple's Applications Design Team 
    Apple's Content Production Team

Things I can help with:
🍼 Startup Babysitting
🥀 Human Futures Planning
💬 Application Design Feedback
🎓 Executive Design Leadership
📐 Executive Design Planning
🏗️ Building & Scaling a Design Organization
📈 Getting your Pitchdeck in Order
📖 Building your Brand Book
🎨 Design Language Guidance
⚙️ Design Systems Direction
🔍 Touchpoint Analysis
🛤️ User Journeys
🆕 Onboarding
🌐 Platform Strategies 
🖼️ Presentation Design
  ♿︎   Accessible Design
🔏 Compliance Design, AppSec
👷Safety, Security, Reliability, Quality & Support
Engineering
🚦Signal Design, Channel & Field Support
Engineering

During my unparalleled design journey at Apple, I held a cardinal position in forging the design language that now stands as a hallmark of the brand. Getting to work with my heroes, I was guided directly by luminaries like Steve Jobs and rigorously trained by CKS, immersing myself in Apple's core ethos, establishing a potent design philosophy still felt around the world.

Each company needs to have a clear understanding of the key emotional connectors that tie audience to product. My techniques have been proven to uncover connectors in order to inform a company’s overall business strategy while strengthening the ties between products, brands and audience for many breakthrough product experiences known to billions.

My approach to humanizing the design process begins with translating unmet customer needs into product strategy. Through synthesis I conduct research, design diagrams, and build prototypes. Exploring the connection between experience and meaning in an accessible manner allows me to shift thinking and focus on meaningful and connected strategies for products and services so that my design work may connect with people in a more visceral way by gathering audience data to gain insights into how people live their lives.

**Rating:** 5/5 (4 reviews)

## Offerings

- Video call (15 min): $450.00

## Example Questions

- Can you help me figure out this specific part of my user journey?
- How can I improve my onboarding experience?
- What are some ways design can improve my revenue model?
- What can I do to humanize my design processes?
- How to hire a designer?

## Links

- [Expert profile](/Darius)
- [Avatar](https://media.intro.co/avatars/615276_fS5_gk-.jpg)
- [Marketplace](/marketplace)