You don’t have to take my word for this, I’m just a simple lad from Bradford after all. But Dieter Rams is a much bigger deal.
Joining German consumer products company Braun in 1955, he was its head of design from 1961 until retirement in 1997. Designing stereo equipment, slide projectors, lighters, shelving units, calculators, chairs… you get the idea, And all of his products shared the same design philosophy: less, but better (Weniger, aber besser, if you speak German).
Generally considered one of the greatest product designers of all time – and the chief inspiration for Apple’s former head of design Jony Ive – he outlined his Ten Principles of Good Design in the 70s, and they’re still relevant today. And worth understanding if your job has anything to do with design, products or customer interaction. You don’t need to be a designer to pay attention to these principles, if your job role involves products in any meaningful way, knowing these will help.
According to Rams, good design:
- is innovative – The possibilities for progression are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for original designs. But imaginative design always develops in tandem with improving technology, and can never be an end in itself.
- makes a product useful – A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic criteria. Good design emphasises the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could detract from it.
- is aesthetic – The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products are used every day and have an effect on people and their well-being. Only well-executed objects can be beautiful.
- makes a product understandable – It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product clearly express its function by making use of the user’s intuition. At best, it is self-explanatory.
- 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.
- is honest – It does not make a product appear more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.
- 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.
- 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 consumer.
- is environmentally friendly – Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimises physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
- is as little design as possible – Less, but better. Simple as possible but not simpler. Good design elevates the essential functions of a product.
A colleague once remarked that whilst my web design work might not be the flashiest it was the most useful. At the time, I wasn’t sure if it was a compliment or not.
But I’ve come to realise that, even without knowing it, I was following these principles. I don’t produce designs for their own sake. They have to work as a piece. Whether that’s a website, a brochure or the user interface for a client’s software.
Because it’s less, but better.