German born Dieter Rams took up his role as Chief Design Officer at Braun in 1961 until 1995. He curated 10 core design principles still used by the finest industrial, product and software designers today.
“Weniger, aber besser” -Less, but better - Dieter Rams
Innovative
It can be best described as the application of new solutions that meet new requirements or existing market needs using innovative technologies.
Useful
A product has to meet the needs from a functional point of view, but also from a user interface and aesthetic need. Good design highlights the usefulness of a product and gets rid of anything that could take away from that.
Aesthetic
The aesthetic quality of a product is a key element to its usefulness because products are used daily which have an effect on people and their well-being. Rams believes only well designed products can be beautiful.
Understandable
Good design of the product should help in the use of the product. It’s part of what helps us understand how to use a product. They work as one. At best, it’s intuitive and self-explanatory.
Unobtrusive
Purposeful products are like tools. They should be nice to look at, but apart from their usefulness, they shouldn’t demand attention.
Honest
It should be clear from the product design what it is or does. It shouldn’t promise more or less usefulness than products imply from their design.
Long lasting
Good design is timeless and always appears relevant . Fashionable trends come and go, but good design is ageless.
Thorough
Attention to detail and accuracy in the design process ensures users will have a good experience understanding how to use the product in different user cases (interactions with the product). All design elements are important as they impact on the overall design.
Environmentally friendly
Good Design uses as few materials and resources as possible throughout the various iterations of the product life cycle, and also takes into account the need to for it to fit into the environment where it will be used.
As little design as possible
The “Less, but better” mantra from Dieter Rams is evident in many of the designs and redesigns at Apple. The emphasis on the essential rather than the frivolous produces a design of clarity, simplicity and beauty.
Try using these successful principles during your own design development process. Why not apply it to designing your next mobile app prototype. Get Creative with Fluid UI
