"""
Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.
"""
— Steve Jobs
— Steve Jobs
"You're holding it wrong."
Unless you're saying the only point of the iPhone is that people buy it, that isn't sufficient.
Design is very much depending on the intended outcome. Apple wants to sell devices -> design them so that they get bought (make them "shiny", as you put it ;)). Of course this is not the only point of what Apple wants, but it certainly is the biggest one.