Industrial designer Niels Diffrient used probes to measure the contours of the human body (1) in order to design airplane seats for American Airlines (2). The office chair (3) is a sketch by Diffrient of a chair meant to fit the body—and look elegant. Credit: Technology Review

In this special design issue, two truths seem to emerge. First, in order to make great things, technology companies must practice collaboration. Bill Moggridge, a cofounder of the design consultancy Ideo, implores us, "Put together a team with a great engineer, a crazy designer, a good businessperson, and a good human-factors scientist or psychologist of some kind, and put them in a room and get them to try to work together" (see Q&A). Second, behind companies with well-designed products are leaders who care deeply about design. No company exemplifies that better than Apple, as Daniel Turner reports (see "Different").

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