10 principles of good design

Dieter Rams’ 10 principles for good design: Good design is innovative. Good design makes a product useful. Good design is aesthetic. Good design helps us to understand a product. Good design is unobtrusive. Good design is honest. Good design is durable. Good design is consequent to the last detail. Good design is concerned with the … Continue reading “10 principles of good design”

Dieter Rams’ 10 principles for good design:

  1. Good design is innovative.
  2. Good design makes a product useful.
  3. Good design is aesthetic.
  4. Good design helps us to understand a product.
  5. Good design is unobtrusive.
  6. Good design is honest.
  7. Good design is durable.
  8. Good design is consequent to the last detail.
  9. Good design is concerned with the environment.
  10. Good design is as little design as possible.

When you look pictures hosted on Gizmodo you can see that Jonathan Ive is heavily influenced by Rams’ designs.

We now have to see what other household products Apple will reinvent.

I’d have to add that

  • Good design affords usability
  • Good design reduces confusion
  • Good design sees no need to conceal
  • Good design reinforces clarity of purpose
  • Good design has no need to shout
  • Good design shapes focus naturally

I’m no design guru but I think there’s room for improvement.

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0 thoughts on “10 principles of good design”

  2. Well it’s like modern TVs. Very few buttons on the front but they have a remote which is impossible to understand without either prior knowledge or without a manual. Same with the “simple” interface of Windows Media Centre and then you have a remote which looks like a WW2 battleship it’s blistered with so many nozzles and buttons. Moving the complexity out of sight doesn’t make it good design.

  3. Yes, but there’s also the joy of discovery – by all means, make the remote simply: comparing Apple’s remote to the Windows Media remote is a good example. But also allow new features to be discovered. Human beings love this form of “play”. It’s not about hiding features, it’s about putting them out of the way until needed, and allowing the experience to unfold..

    Like the better examples of Apple software: you can do most things without even going to a menu, but when you do – you find new features, and that makes you go “cool!”

  4. But that’s another rule I guess. Good design should be shallow, but also deep.

    You should be able to get to 80% of the usable features without much digging. But there should be options to allow you to become a “power user” for those who need to have such an investment.

    Like the Mac user who starts off with the menus. Then they migrate to keyboard shortcuts. Then they may even move to AppleScript or the Terminal. Then they may start using AppleScript with the Terminal. There’s an onion skin approach here – another layer of interesting things the deeper you dig.

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