Jeff Williams will oversee Apple industrial designers
Apple has decided to eliminate the role of industrial design chief after Evans Hankey announced her departure from the position, and the team will start reporting to Jeff Williams.
Now, Bloomberg reports that Apple’s core group of about 20 industrial designers will report to Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. The company will also give more prominent roles to a group of Apple’s longest-tenured designers.
Apple split up its design group even before Ive left, however. As he stepped back from his day-to-day role at the company, the design team was split into industrial design to cover hardware and a separate group to focus on user interfaces in software, which Alan Dye continues to lead.
The move adds more responsibilities to Jeff Williams, who some have seen as a potential successor to Tim Cook. Williams is in charge of worldwide operations, the supply chain, AppleCare customer care, software engineering for the watch and health initiatives, and now design.
