Dieter Rams, a renowned German industrial designer, significantly impacted the field of design. For over 65 years, Vitsœ has continuously worked with Dieter Rams. His philosophy, encapsulated in the phrase "Less, but better," has influenced countless designers, including Apple's SVP of Design, Jony Ive. Rams' work can be seen worldwide through both permanent and touring exhibitions.
About 50 years ago, in his quest to answer the question “Is my design a good design?”, he developed the 10 principles of good design, sometimes also known as 10 commandments. It’s amazing to see how valid these principles are today, so much that we might feel than even more than back then, when Rams actually wrote them!
In December 1976, he gave a speech in New York of his design work at Vitsoe. Here are the initial paragraphs:“Ladies and gentlemen, design is a popular subject today. No wonder because, in the face of increasing competition, design is often the only product differentiation that is truly discernible to the buyer.I am convinced that a well-thought-out design is decisive to the quality of a product. A poorly-designed product is not only uglier than a well-designed one but it is of less value and use. Worst of all, it might be intrusive.[…]A designer who wants to achieve good design must not regard himself as an artist who, according to taste and aesthetics, is merely dressing-up products with a last-minute garment.The designer must be the gestaltingenieur or creative engineer. They synthesize the completed product from the various elements that make up its design. Their work is largely rational, meaning that aesthetic decisions are justified by an understanding of the product’s purpose.”
These principles, developed in the 1980s, offer a framework for evaluating and creating designs that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also functional, sustainable, and user-centered. The beauty of these principles lies partly in the uniqueness of their composition, but also in the fact that they apply just as much to digital design as they do to industrial design.
The Core Principles Explained
Rams' 10 principles serve as a guide for designers across various disciplines. Let's delve into each principle, exploring its meaning and implications.
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1. Good Design is Innovative
“The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. This means that there is simply no excuse to not innovate. As digital and product designers we have constant access to developing technology. But innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.
Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. This principle emphasizes the importance of embracing new technologies and pushing the boundaries of what's possible. The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. However, innovation should not be an end in itself, but rather a means to improve the product's functionality and user experience. In web and app design, we’re surrounded by applications and state-of-the-art software. Thus, a common danger is that we innovate for the sake of innovation. Browse for weather apps, and you’ll find out a myriad of them. From those that really serve a purpose - i.e. Umbrella - to those that focus solely on the design or on features no one really needs. We should think about our must-have items here and 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 bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. A product should have a function, and a specific function. A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.
A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. A product should have a function, and a specific function. This principle highlights the primary purpose of any design: to be useful. A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it. The design should serve a purpose and fulfill the user's needs effectively. Even when designing digital interfaces, we can bring Rams’ commandment on board and 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 products we use every day affect our person and our well-being. Let’s not kid ourselves: looks matter. Form should always follow function, but it shouldn’t be forgotten - it should follow. The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our person and our well-being. But only well-executed objects can be beautiful.
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The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our person and our well-being. Let’s not kid ourselves: looks matter. Form should always follow function, but it shouldn’t be forgotten - it should follow. This principle recognizes the importance of visual appeal. The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our person and our well-being. But only well-executed objects can be beautiful. A well-designed product should be pleasing to the eye and create a positive experience for the user.
4. Good Design Makes a Product Understandable
“It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. This is paramount in product design. It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory.
“It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. This is paramount in product design. It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory. A good design should be intuitive and easy to understand. 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. It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory. It should communicate its purpose and function clearly to the user, minimizing confusion and frustration. 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. In your design, think about this: can you cut down the user’s cognitive load so that the design has already done the thinking for him or her, and all the user has to do is go along with it and interact?
Yes, we’re designing for the digital realm, so we have a challenge that mechanical products didn’t. Looking at a hairdryer, you can work out straight away what to do. Looking at a web/app design will take more mental investment. As long as we can make our designs understandable and flow in a way that our users can interact efficiently, there’s a great chance that we’ll save ourselves from generating user frustration.
5. Good Design is Unobtrusive
“Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Don’t design a product around yourself. Further, don’t design your product around a projection of what you expect or even want your user to be. 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.
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“Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Don’t design a product around yourself. Further, don’t design your product around a projection of what you expect or even want your user to be. The design should be neutral and restrained, allowing the user to focus on the product's function rather than being distracted by unnecessary ornamentation. 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. This surely sounds familiar to us, in how we design to allow the user to maneuver his/her creativity into the design. Digital design affords a lot of room for expression. Because of this, we have to design with an appropriate structure. MySpace didn’t have that miracle structure.
We designers can get trapped sometimes. Digital design is an abstract tableau, and we know that we often have a job to make concepts easier for our users. For example, the advantage point of applying skeuomorphism can lead to a wrong mental model for the user; one that might prevent him/her from error recovery or to become a more advanced users. Thus, we should always consider all sides of the coin and choose the option that is best for the user.
6. Good Design is Honest
“It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. The takeaway here is simple. We should be honest with our users about what we’re delivering to them. 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.
“It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. The takeaway here is simple. We should be honest with our users about what we’re delivering to them. A good design should be honest and transparent, accurately representing the product's capabilities and limitations. 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.
7. Good Design is Long-lasting
“It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Designing for the sake of fashion is a dangerous and generally unhelpful thing. It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years - even in today’s throwaway society.
“It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Designing for the sake of fashion is a dangerous and generally unhelpful thing. A good design should be timeless and avoid fleeting trends. It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years - even in today’s throwaway society. We should be especially careful to keep our designs from being put in the “old hat” pile. The first way to avoid this is to ensure that your product/service serves a purpose, as we have seen with the previous principles. Besides, 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. For example, be mindful of crisp, clear text (which will always be readable) versus playful fonts that seem “cool”. Check out the lettering on the covers of 1970s pulp-fiction books … dated, aren’t they?The web is a living medium. Updates happen all the time. So, the easier it is to maintain your design, the more likely it will survive on new devices. This means getting back to basics and keeping an eye on the nuts and bolts of design. Yes, we mean brushing up on your HTML to get ready for what the future throws at us all.
8. Good Design is Thorough Down to the Last Detail
“Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. This is where good designers are separated from excellent designers. Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the user.
“Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. This is where good designers are separated from excellent designers. Every detail should be carefully considered and executed with precision. Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the user. This is crucial for us in web/app design. 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. Error alerts are another area to watch. When do you customize a design to go the extra mile to reassure the user? During loading, is your page showing a spinning hourglass, a message, a neat animation, or…did you leave it all sterile and white, leaving users wondering?
9. Good Design is Environmental-Friendly
“Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. In the digital realm, we don’t have quite as much effect upon our physical environment as some other industries might. However, we still should be sensitive to our digital and logical environment. 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.
“Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. In the digital realm, we don’t have quite as much effect upon our physical environment as some other industries might. However, we still should be sensitive to our digital and logical environment. A good design should minimize its environmental impact by conserving resources and reducing pollution. 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.
If we imagine the Internet as being like the world, we’re on the right track there. Think how you can design with impact and not fill up the Internet with unnecessary pages. That sacred minimalism of “less is more” comes through to another dimension on that note! Sustainability - designers have a responsibility to create products that are sustainable and long-lasting. Rams held a firm belief that good design can only come from understanding people. He urged everyone - not just designers - to take responsibility for the state of the world around them.
10. Good Design is as Little Design as Possible
This sums up a lot of design principles into one. Design should always be intentional, never just filigree. Anything that doesn’t serve the user should be eliminated. 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.
This sums up a lot of design principles into one. Design should always be intentional, never just filigree. Anything that doesn’t serve the user should be eliminated. “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. Rams’ signature statement might be: “Less, but better”. Simplicity in web and app design, as with mechanical design, is the ultimate goal in helping users in the digital age. The Internet is saturated with element-heavy designs. This may give us confidence that we can beat out competitors who don’t know what they’re doing wrong, but there’s still the point that many users are wary of the Internet because over-designed sites dominate. Less is more, but “thoughtfully less” means “better”. Making our designs good means making them simple; making great designs means staying focused only on the essentials. Cut off the frills.
Applying the Principles to Digital Design
Even when designing digital interfaces, we can bring Rams’ commandment on board and 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.
These principles are not limited to physical products; they are equally applicable to digital design. Here's how they can be applied to web and app design:
- Innovation: Embrace new technologies and interaction patterns to create unique and engaging user experiences.
- Usefulness: Ensure that the design solves a problem or fulfills a need for the user.
- Aesthetics: Create a visually appealing and consistent design that enhances the user experience.
- Understandability: Make the interface intuitive and easy to navigate.
- Unobtrusiveness: Avoid unnecessary elements or distractions that detract from the user's goals.
- Honesty: Be transparent about the functionality and limitations of the design.
- Longevity: Design for the future by using adaptable and maintainable code.
- Thoroughness: Pay attention to every detail, from typography to micro-interactions.
- Environmental Friendliness: Optimize code and assets to reduce loading times and energy consumption.
- Minimalism: Focus on the essential elements and eliminate unnecessary clutter.