Jens Oliver Meiert

The 10 Design Theses of Dieter Rams

Published on Mar 25, 2008 (updated Aug 24, 2023), filed under (feed). (Share this on Mastodon or Bluesky?)

Moving up industrial design on my agenda and studying the work of German top designer Dieter Rams (who was responsible for the great design of Braun products for about 30 years), I deemed it useful to republish his design theses:

  1. Good design is innovative.
  2. Good design makes a product useful.
  3. Good design is aesthetic.
  4. Good design makes a product understandable.
  5. Good design is unobtrusive.
  6. Good design is honest.
  7. Good design has longevity.
  8. Good design is consequent down to the last detail.
  9. Good design is environmentally friendly.
  10. Good design is as little design as possible.

I really like these “commandments,” as they’re sometimes referred to. They might remind of Edward Tufte’s work on information design and “data honesty,” they might also—hi, grandiosity—remind of my own definition of design, that good design needs to be durable, and that our industry suffers from bad design since we’re often dealing with decoration instead.

Design history and research of good design confirm that great designers rarely just ornament but focus on usefulness and usability. And making a product useful and usable never meant that it shouldn’t be appealing. This still is, and will always be, one of the key lessons up-and-coming designers need to learn. Which includes our industry with their web and application designers.

About Me

Jens Oliver Meiert, on November 9, 2024.

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m a web developer, manager, and author. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager for small and large enterprises, I’m an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and views. (I value you being critical, interpreting charitably, and giving feedback.)