Customer Adoption and Change Management

Each time, the feature didn’t feel necessary in the moment. But that discomfort? It was strategic conditioning — a “future prep” cycle.

Mark Saymen

6/13/20251 min read

🚨 Apple Just Gave Us a Masterclass in Sustainable Change
And it has nothing to do with specs — and everything to do with how people change.

With the introduction of liquid glass displays, Apple isn’t just launching a new material.
It’s training users to accept a transparent future.

At first glance, the idea of transparent, curved glass across iPhones, iPads, and Watches may feel unnecessary — even uncomfortable.

But that’s the point.

🧠 Apple’s Change Strategy Is Psychological, Not Just Technical

They’ve done this before:

  • 🎧 Removed headphone jacks before wireless AirPods were mainstream

  • 🔌 Eliminated USB-A ports before most accessories supported USB-C

  • 🧭 Switched from physical buttons to gestures (remember the Home button?)

  • 📲 Replaced the iPhone SIM tray in some markets to make eSIM adoption inevitable

Each time, the feature didn’t feel necessary in the moment.
But that discomfort? It was strategic conditioning — a “future prep” cycle.

💡 And it goes even deeper.

Steve Jobs had the iPad ready before the iPhone.
But he didn’t launch it — because people weren’t ready to accept that much glass without first trusting the phone.

He paced the change — slowly expanding the user's tolerance for new screen formats, gestures, app behaviors, and UI metaphors.

🔄 The Takeaway for Leaders Driving Change:

Whether you’re introducing AI, new processes, or cultural shifts — don’t just launch innovation.
Design on-ramps to it.

✅ Normalize discomfort early
✅ Introduce transitional features
✅ Let people live in the future for a while — even if they don’t fully need it yet

♻️ The Change Loop Apple Follows:

  1. Remove something familiar

  2. Replace it with something slightly premature

  3. Refine it until it feels indispensable

  4. Scale it into the next standard

That’s sustainable transformation — not just technical rollout, but emotional architecture.

📱So no — liquid glass isn't about design flair.
It’s a preview of how change is seeded.

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