Good vs Great Designer: Apple's Tap to Cash UX

so Apple launched a bunch of new exciting updates at their WWDC event from introducing Apple intelligence into iOS 18 to a new way to send cash to your friends with your iPhone don't get me wrong this tap toach ux is absolutely phenomenal but it's also misleading a lot of designers and there's a very critical lesson that nearly all designers I'm missing I can also guarantee you that if you learn and also apply what I'm about to share with you this new understanding will literally transform you as a designer your clients and your stakeholders will also respect you so much more they might even just want to pay you and give you more cash simply for just working with them Apple has launched a bunch of new updates and our designers are lusting over the tap to cash ux animations they now are inspired to bring more animations into their ux simply because app did it as well but deep down we all know that this is unrealistic and not practical for 99% of the real world projects that we actually work on and this actually ends up frustrating and wasting developers time stakeholders end up deprioritizing these cool transitions that you had in mind for the project and then ultimately you feel like you're unheard and everyone is out to hold you back from doing great work so why can apple do it why can they launch the these cool transitions we all immediately jump to conclusions oh it's because Apple they can do whatever they want yes but no so yes but let's remember apple is just like any other major tech company majority of the projects that they work on don't even make it out to see the day of light so why did this one make it through let's go ahead and zoom in and see what's actually happening inside Apple now if you have been following Apple's overall business performance over the years you will notice that their Hardware Sales have been slowing down and in 2023 they actually started to decline that means less iPhones Macs and even iPads have been sold compared to previous years but there's just one Department that has seen consistent growth over the years Services which includes revenue from Digital Services Apple Care Apple pay licensing and all that good stuff now according to I clarified in the first quarter of FY 24 Apple achieved record high Services Revenue reaching $23 billion during the first quarter this represents 11% increase year over-year and accounts for nearly 20% of Apple's total revenue for that quarter alone if we think about it tap to cash is one of their products in their services category which is one of the categories that apple is really investing into to make up for their slowing hardware sales and also maybe to build defensibility into their p& l which is short for profit and loss so if we think about tap to cash as a new product in the payments industry who is Apple up against have a quick think about it PayPal Visa Mastercard stripe and maybe even block who is behind cash app in the US and if we just combine these Brands together that's trillions of dollars in market value that isn't even considering the hundreds and if not thousands of other companies in the payment space as well as a designer if you were seriously looking to grow as one and be treated a little bit more seriously in the industry you need to read between the lines and not just fantasize about cool transitions apple is noticing a Slowdown in the high Ware sales and is Shifting its focus towards expanding its services offerings a sector with considerable scalability they're tapping into the lucrative payments industry already making strides with Apple pay however they're up against pretty strong competitors with very loyal customer bases which means Apple can't simply rely on their reputation for products that just work to successfully draw customers away from long-used Brands and services like PayPal visa and MasterCard Apple would need to enhance their go-to Market strategies and create significant hype around their product launches to capture public interest and also their excitement this animation is more than just a transition or an animation it's a strategic step for them to keep inching their feet into the payment sector to generate more PR hype and get people talking so my challenge to you is that moving forward whenever you see a new product or update admire the work but

always take a step back to understand the why behind every decision companies make and then see how it is relevant to your situation honestly don't be a noob and blindly follow what others are doing really do assess the situation this is the skill that separates the good designers from the great designers so hopefully this sheds a little bit more light on how you can see design through a wider lens one that really helps you build a stronger reputation with your stakeholders and also your clients and it's a really easy way to start building that business Acumen skill that you really need as you progress in your career so if you enjoy this video make sure to gently smash that like button once again subscribe for the Die Hard fans and if you want to keep learning you should definitely check out this video