Dieter Rams, a highly influential German industrial designer, has left an indelible mark on the world of product design. Best known for his work at Braun and Vitsoe, Rams' designs are characterized by their functionality, simplicity, and aesthetic clarity. His design ethos has shaped the way entire generations think about making and consuming. Beyond his product designs, Rams is also renowned for his "Ten Principles of Good Design," a set of guidelines that champion simplicity, honesty, and restraint. These principles, developed around 50 years ago in his quest to answer the question “Is my design a good design?”, remain remarkably relevant today, serving as a touchstone for designers across various disciplines.
The Enduring Legacy of Dieter Rams
Dieter Rams' influence is undeniable. As The Guardian noted, he "all but invented consumer product design as we know it today." Fast Company echoes this sentiment, stating that "to quantify his impact, you need only look at the millions of Apple products in our pockets." His work has touched the lives of millions, with countless individuals having used Braun coffeemakers, shavers, stereos, calculators, speakers, or alarm clocks, Oral-B toothbrushes, or Vitsoe 606 shelving systems.
Rams' design approach, rooted in the principles of the Ulm School of Design (successor to the Bauhaus), emphasizes a systematic link between form and function. He introduced a new aesthetic style characterized by clean and uncluttered lines, which has served as an inspiration for future generations. His designs aim to improve people’s quality of life by creating extremely functional, durable, and valuable products that convey emotions that consumers identify with.
However, Rams himself views his career with a degree of regret. He has expressed concern about the over-consumption and wastefulness of modern society, stating, "If I had to do it over again, I would not want to be a designer. There are too many unnecessary products in this world." This sentiment underscores his commitment to environmental consciousness and the creation of long-lasting products.
The 10 Principles of Good Design Explained
In the late 1970s, increasingly concerned by the "impenetrable confusion of forms, colors, and noises" in the world, Dieter Rams articulated his 10 principles of good design. These principles serve as a guide for designers seeking to create products that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also functional, sustainable, and user-centered.
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1. Good Design Is Innovative:
The possibilities for innovation are never exhausted. Technological development continually offers new opportunities for original designs. However, imaginative design should always develop in tandem with improving technology and never be an end in itself. In web and app design, a common danger is innovating for the sake of innovation, adding features that no one really needs. We should be careful about introducing "delighters" unless we’re sure that they are both innovative and serve a purpose for our users.
2. Good Design Makes a Product Useful:
A product is purchased to be used. It must satisfy not only functional but also psychological and aesthetic criteria. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a product while disregarding anything that could detract from it. Even when designing digital interfaces, we can make our web designs useful by making them easy to interact with, to the point that the user delights in it. This is user enjoyment through user enablement.
3. Good Design Is Aesthetic:
The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because the products we use daily affect our person and our well-being. Only well-executed objects can be beautiful. Our design should always show the user what its function is so that there’s never a gap between what the user perceives the design’s capabilities are and what they truly are.
4. Good Design Makes a Product Understandable:
It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory. We must make buttons look like clickable buttons and think about positive and negative interactions. Think of traffic lights: green means go (positive); red means stop (negative). A good design can speak for itself, without asking the user to commit much effort: showing is better than telling. If a user can intuitively deduce what to do with your design, that’s ace! If you have to compose instructions to get him/her to interact with it, that’s not so ace.
5. Good Design Is Unobtrusive:
Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should, therefore, be both neutral and restrained to leave room for the user’s self-expression. We should not build unneeded elements into our designs. Remember the 80/20 rule and think carefully before adding every element to avoid the chance of clutter. Digital design affords a lot of room for expression. Because of this, we have to design with an appropriate structure.
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6. Good Design Is Honest:
It does not make a product more innovative, powerful, or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept. What are you designing for? Is it a bank, where security and padlock insignias and the use of an ever-reassuring blue color scheme are needed? Make your design reflect the character of the purpose of the design.
7. Good Design Is Long-lasting:
It avoids being fashionable and, therefore, never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years - even in today’s throwaway society. Besides ensuring that your product/service serves a purpose, you can also try to future-proof our designs by keeping them adaptable. Don’t hem yourself in with assumptions about “new ways forward”. Keep a neutral aesthetic feel to your design.
8. Good Design Is Thorough Down to the Last Detail:
Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the user. Every detail must pull its weight on the journey to reaching the best UX. So, think out every detail. Nothing can appear as an afterthought, including that “Forgot password?” screen.
9. Good Design Is Environmentally Friendly:
Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimizes physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product. Watching carbon footprints is relevant to designing. It may sound comical, but the clicks users take and the amount of time they spend on electronic devices add up.
10. Good Design Is as Little Design as Possible:
Less, but better - because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity. Simplicity in web and app design, as with mechanical design, is the ultimate goal in helping users in the digital age. Making our designs good means making them simple; making great designs means staying focused only on the essentials. Cut off the frills.
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Applying Rams' Principles to Web and App Design
While Dieter Rams' principles were initially conceived for industrial design, they are readily applicable to the realm of web and app design. By adhering to these guidelines, designers can create digital interfaces that are not only visually appealing but also user-friendly, efficient, and sustainable.
- Innovation: Avoid innovation for the sake of innovation. Focus on creating features that genuinely enhance the user experience and serve a clear purpose.
- Usefulness: Ensure that your web or app design is easy to interact with and provides users with a delightful and enabling experience.
- Aesthetics: Design interfaces that are visually pleasing and reflect the character and purpose of the product or service.
- Understandability: Make the structure of your design clear and intuitive, allowing users to easily understand how to interact with it.
- Unobtrusiveness: Avoid unnecessary elements that clutter the interface and distract users from their intended tasks.
- Honesty: Accurately represent the capabilities of your product or service and avoid making misleading claims.
- Long-lasting: Create designs that are adaptable and avoid fleeting trends, ensuring that your web or app remains relevant over time.
- Thoroughness: Pay attention to every detail, ensuring that each element contributes to a positive user experience.
- Environmental friendliness: Consider the environmental impact of your design, minimizing unnecessary clicks and reducing the amount of time users spend on electronic devices.
- Simplicity: Embrace minimalism and focus on the essential aspects of your design, eliminating unnecessary frills and clutter.