Striving for pixel perfection in interface design had tremendous value in my work at Apple. Ensuring every element precisely was free from pixel artifacts created visual crispness and polish. Even slight misalignments and poor aliasing become glaringly obvious, breaking that consistency. Pixel perfection requires craft, care and consideration for the final experience you want people having with your product — qualities I believe define great design.

However, the flexibility of vector tools has led some designers to underestimate pixel precision. Vectors make exploration easy, but often result in elements failing to align at the pixel level, introducing jagged edges that degrade quality.

Pixel perfection often requires manual adjustments which can be more time consuming, a labor of love needing patience and an obsessive eye. But this refinement separates good from truly outstanding design. When I meticulously curate each pixel, the result resonates as a cohesive digital environment rather than just vector objects. At Apple, these details made all the difference and we’d have the upper hand because we always knew before the market which screen resolutions we’d have to support.