Microsoft Will Have a New Lead Designer for its Upcoming Console
By Yannick LeJacq | December 16, 2011 | News | No comments | Share
A recent report from Cnet states that Don Coyner, who lead both the design and marketing of Microsoft’s Xbox and Xbox 360, will step away from his lead role for the company’s upcoming console expected for release sometime in 2012. One source cited in the report also indicated that Coyner will be replaced by Emma Williams, who played a large role in the recent redesign of Xbox live’s interface.
Coyner came to Microsoft from Nintendo in 1995, rising to the level of marketing director for the original Xbox in 1999. He designed the user experience and branding for the Xbox 360, which many perceived as an enormous improvement for the burgeoning console developer. In his book The Xbox 360 Uncloaked, journalist Dean Takashi credits Coyner for creating a sleeker, more unified design language for the new console compared to that of its clunkier predecessor.
“He wanted to whole user experience to be consistent, like an Apple product, where everything from the screen to the package looked like it was designed by just one person,” Takashi writes. The redesign was a huge success for Microsoft’s latest console, bringing the company increasing sales since its initial release in 2005 and finishing 2011 as the best-selling console in the United States.
Williams first joined Microsoft in 2003, and most recently worked as the general manager of Xbox Experiences, leading the unique redesign of the Xbox live interface, which positions the console more  squarely as a hub for home entertainment by featuring different content hubs including games, movies, and social media that can be accessed simply by waving your hand or speaking to the console if you have the right tools at your disposal (aka the Kinect).
Microsoft itself declined to comment on any internal changes, a spokesman for the company telling Cnet, “We don’t comment on personnel issues.” Details for the console’s release are equally scarce, with reports hinting at release in either 2012 or 2013.
