Principles of GOOD Design: braun vs apple

In today's world of business, design is just as important as whatever magic your product can do, it adds tremendous value to a product and it captures a buyer's attention better. Companies like Apple due to the strict rule of it's legendary founder Steve Jobs and his right hand man John Ive have inherited design as a core function in their products if I can say so following always a minimalist view on design and has been copied by many companies who wish to emulate their success. So nowadays people expect to see a well designed product whether it be a physical product like a phone or not physical like a website, good design sets you apart from the pack and increases your value proposition to your customers.

But even the great Apple had to learn its design principles from someone, and that someone is legendary German industrial designer Dieter Rams. During his tenure Mr. Rams outlined that there are indeed principles that you have to follow in order to create what he dubbed as "Good Design" and these principles come in the nice round number of 10.  They are as follows

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.

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 while disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.

3. Good Design 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.

4. Good Design 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.

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.

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

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.

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 consumer.

9. Good Design 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.

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.

"Things which are different in order to simply be different are seldom better, but that which is made to be better is almost always different." - Dieter Rams

"My goal is to omit everything superfluous so that the essential is shown to best possible advantage." - Dieter Rams