A presentation from 3Pillar Senior UX Designer David Rhyne on Dieter Rams' 10 Principles of Good Design. Among the principles put forward by Rams as most important to design are that it is innovative and makes a product useful and understandable.

1. Less, but better.Ten principles for good design
by dieter rams
DAVID RHYNE
Senior UX Designer
david.rhyne@3pillarglobal.com
http://dazid.net
@dazidrhyne

2. whydodesignprinciples matter?

3. flexibility & availability
power & specificity

4. user
testing
flexibility & availability
power & specificity

5. user
testing
user
research
flexibility & availability
power & specificity

6. user
testing
user
research
design
principles
flexibility & availability
power & specificity

7. designprinciplesarereadilyavailable andextremelyflexible

8. Dieter Rams
Industrial designer and design
thought leader
Born May 20th, 1932
Employed by Braun, and Vitsœ

9. jony ive on dieter rams

10. “Surfaces that were without apology, bold, pure,
perfectly-proportioned, coherent and effortless.”
jony ive on dieter rams

11. “No part appeared to be either hidden or celebrated, just perfectly
considered and completely appropriate in the hierarchy of the
product’s details and features. At a glance, you knew exactly
what it was and exactly how to use it.”
jony ive on dieter rams

13. Weniger, aber besser.

14. Less, but better.

15. Less, when better.

16. Now, the ten principles.

17. Now, the ten principles.
(with some real world and digital examples)

18. Now, the ten principles.
(I’m going to read a lot)

19. 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. But innovative design always develops in
tandem with innovative technology, and can
never be an end in itself.

20. 1Good design is innovative

21. 1Good design is innovative
technology

22. 1Good design is innovative
technology
good design

23. 1Good design is innovative

technology innovation
good design

24. 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. Good design emphasizes
the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding
anything that could possibly detract from it.

25. 2
Good design makes a
product useful

26. 2Good design makes a product useful
Level

27. 2Good design makes a product useful
Emphasizes the usefulness of a product
Level

28. 2Good design makes a product useful
Emphasizes the usefulness of a product
Disregards anything that could possibly
detract from it


Level

29. 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. But only
well-executed objects can be beautiful.

30. 3Good design is aesthetic

31. 3Good design is aesthetic

32. 3Good design is aesthetic

33. 3Good design is aesthetic

34. 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.

35. 4
Good design makes a
product understandable

36. 4Good design makes a product understandable
The iPhone
4Good design makes a product understandable

37. 4Good design makes a product understandable
 Clarifies its own structure
The iPhone
4Good design makes a product understandable

38. 4Good design makes a product understandable


Clarifies its own structure
Is self-explanatory
The iPhone

39. 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.

40. 5
Good design is unobtrusive

41. 5Good design is unobtrusive

42. 5Good design is unobtrusive
Pinterest

43. 5Good design is unobtrusive
Is neutral and restrained
Pinterest

44. 5Good design is unobtrusive
Is neutral and restrained
Leaves room for the user’s
self-expression


Pinterest

45. 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.

46. 6Good design is honest

47. 6Good design is honest
Windows Phone

48. 6Good design is honest
“Authentically digital”
Windows Phone

49. 6Good design is honest
“Authentically digital”
Does not attempt to manipulate the
consumer with promises that cannot
be kept.


Windows Phone

50. 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.

51. 7
Good design is long-lasting

52. 7Good design is long-lasting

53. 7Good design is long-lasting
Horizontal navigation

54. 7Good design is long-lasting
Avoids being fashionable
Horizontal navigation

55. 7Good design is long-lasting
Avoids being fashionable
Doesn’t appear antiquated

Horizontal navigation

56. 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.

57. 8
Good design is thorough
down to the last detail

58. 8
Good design is thorough
down to the last detail

59. 8
Good design is thorough
down to the last detail

60. 8Good design is thorough down to the last detail
Allows username modification
Suggests an autogenerated name to get
you started quickly
Tumblr



61. 8Good design is thorough down to the last detail
Shows appropriately-colored boxes next
to hex codes
Slack


62. 8Good design is thorough down to the last detail
Detects high-resolution files
Works with @2x convention to
automatically scale high-DPI images
InVision



63. 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.

64. 9
Good design is
environmentally-friendly

65. 9Good design is environmentally-friendly
Cargo Collective

66. 9Good design is environmentally-friendly
Is sensitive to its environment
Cargo Collective


67. 9Good design is environmentally-friendly
Is sensitive to its environment
Minimizes visual polution
Cargo Collective



68. 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.
10

69. 10
Good design is as little
design as possible

70. 10Good design is as little design as possible

71. 10

Good design is as little design as possible

72. 10Good design is as little design as possible
Amazon Echo

73. Presents clear navigation and
pertinent,high level details
Amazon Echo

10Good design is as little design as possible

74. Presents clear navigation and
pertinent,high level details
Provides a call to action
Amazon Echo


10Good design is as little design as possible

75. Presents clear navigation and
pertinent,high level details
Provides a call to action
Is as little design as possible
Amazon Echo



10Good design is as little design as possible

76. whathavewelearned?

77. Be helpful.

78. Be helpful.
gooddesignisuseful,innovative,honest,long-lasting,
andconsciousof itsenvironment

79. Be thoughtful.

80. Be thoughtful.
gooddesignisaesthetic,understandable,unobtrusive,
thorough,andaslittledesignaspossible

81. Stop thinking of yourself as
a UX designer.

82. Stop thinking of yourself as
a visual designer.

83. Stop thinking of yourself as
a web designer.

84. Think of yourself as someone
who is helpful and thoughtful.

85. Think of yourself as a designer.

86. “Back to purity, back to simplicity.”
dieter rams

87. Thank you.
DAVID RHYNE
Senior UX Designer
david.rhyne@3pillarglobal.com
http://dazid.net
@dazidrhyne