I'm less bullish on Google. They are very data-driven, which works until it doesn't. I can't imagine what data anyone at Google would have provided in 2001 that

I'm less bullish on Google. They are very data-driven, which works until it doesn't. I can't imagine what data anyone at Google would have provided in 2001 that could have convinced them to build an iPod. Google doesn't seem so much paralysis-by-analysis, but more paralysis-until-analysis. I'm not a googler, but have several friends who are. The stories of designers who have come and gone from their teams aren't well published, but I guess frustration is a norm in those circles when it comes to design. Apparently, design vision doesn't lead a product -- it follows. I know they have made managerial changes there (I was told the move of Meyer out as head of product management had something to do with design), but the culture of data-first seems to be holding them back.