‘In 2001, Apple released the iPod — a sleek product that would put ‘1,000 songs in your pocket’ Six years later, the iPhone turned mobile communication upside down: it was phone, iPod, and web browser all wrapped up into one machine. Such innovations changed our relationship to technology, and how we think about usability, mobility and design. They’re still inspiring interaction design today, as ever.

And it wasn’t just the music-storing, music-playing iPod that made it successful: there were MP3 players long before it. The genius of it was in its rawness and human poignancy. The simple design, click wheel, and connectivity with iTunes made arranging and listening to music super simple. Technology that was utilitarian morphed into private and romantic. It was user experience in that it proved that brevity and elegance could inspire a feeling of connection.

The iPhone introduced in 2007 brought with it the smartphone age. In ditching the keyboard and using multi-touch, it provided a natural way to access technology. The App Store even customised the experience, making the phone work, play and social. This made mobile technology part of our normal lives.

These machines transformed interaction design on a massive scale. They were human-centric, making it visible that tech should be designed to be used by humans. Multi-touch interfaces re-invented navigation, fuelling technologies such as voice commands and virtual reality. The iPod and iPhone, too, made ecosystems, rather than devices, an absolute necessity, with hardware, software and services seamlessly integrated. Their accessibility features are new models for inclusive design and accessibility to people of all levels.

But those innovations came with difficulties. The new interaction designers have to think about things such as simple versus feature-rich, ongoing connectivity and privacy. These are principles that will always be relevant to designing a world that benefits us, not consumes us, as technology gets more and more part of our lives.

The iPod and iPhone did not just change the technology: they also changed our lives. It is a legacy from them that the best designs are people-centric.