The real reason why iPhones look too similar
Ever wondered why iPhones look really similar every year and don't seem to have the willingness to update the design too radically? This works! People seem to dig the distinct look of products as iconic as the iPhone. The same applies to car brands; unless a new technology arrives, they keep the same design language and milk it until people get completely bored.
People don't really like change, if you think about it. Remember how people reacted to the Pathao logo redesign, Xiaomi's logo change, or Nokia's revamp? People were intrigued, sure, but the reaction is often quite negative to radically new ideas.
Some people thought the iPhone wouldn't work because it doesn't have a keyboard. A few years later, every major manufacturer followed the all-screen design, and people accepted it.
It seems that people do get intrigued by new things, but they don't immediately accept it or always feel happy about it.
Product designers know this phenomenon, and they try to find a direction that clicks, sticking to it for several years. It's commonly known as MAYA—Most Advanced Yet Acceptable. Raymond Loewy, the father of industrial design, coined this term.
So, in the MAYA method, you create something fresh but keep a lot of familiar components. The first iPhone had a radically different user input method—multitouch, which was intuitive but radically new. They compensated for that with some familiar design cues through skeuomorphic design; a book looked like an actual book, a music player looked like album covers, and a calculator looked like a Braun Calculator. They used shades, shadows, and highlights to make interactions intuitive and self-explanatory.
If it's too different and has no references or habits associated, it might be counterintuitive and weird for users. If it's too common, it won't generate excitement or be talked about. Popular designs usually sit somewhere in the middle, balancing between excitement and usability.
There are two opposing forces that drive people towards the middle ground: Neophilia, a curiosity about new things, and Neophobia, the fear of anything too different.
Derek Thompson once said, "To sell something familiar, make it surprising. To sell something surprising, make it familiar," and I agree.
