Microsoft knows how important it is to maintain the momentum that they have built up with the next generation Xbox One console, and the sales figures provide a reassuring pat on the company’s shoulder. Well, in order to achieve such a level of success, did you know that the Xbox One had to go through more than 75 initial designs and 200 controller concepts in order to arrive at where it is at today?
Xbox One designer Carl Ledbetter was tasked with churning out a winning design, which was why his work involved churning out more than 75 designs for Microsoft’s next-gen console, in addition to over 200 controller concepts as well as 100 initial ideas where the new Kinect sensor is concerned
The entire design process from Ledbetter took the better part of two years, and he shared, “There was this conundrum in that we had to meet and satisfy desires of core gamers and Xbox fans, and at same time we wanted Xbox to reach out and mean something to new people. From a design perspective, how do we make that happen? That was a big challenge. We were extremely thorough. We were trying to push boundaries, to do something new and inventive, but there was so much at stake that we had to be really careful as well. The reason why there was so much at stake is that people really, really care about Xbox. We wanted to take every component of what people love about Xbox and amplify it but also make it disappear into the living room – to stay in the background, robust and reliable.”
Do you like what you see in the Xbox One today?