Good design is subjective and can’t necessarily be measured. In the late 1970s, Dieter Rams attempted to express what he believed to be the most important principles for design.
Here is a brief overview:
- Good design is innovative
- Good design makes a product useful
- Good design is aesthetic
- Good design makes a product understandable
- Good design is unobtrusive
- Good design is honest
- Good design is long-lasting
- Good design is thorough down to the last detail
- Good design is environmentally-friendly
- Good design is as little design as possible
1. Good design is innovative
Design is constantly evolving and part of that evolution is adapting to new technology. Technological innovations require a new design expression. Ideally, the design and innovation are so perfectly matched that they become iconic and paradigmatic. An example of this is the iPhone.
It can also go wrong in two directions. The first is when new technology continues to embrace the outdated model from which it evolved, for example when it needs to seamlessly replace its predecessor. A good example of this is the LED lighting fixture that replaces a fluorescent fixture. They are expected to fit in the same space and have the same appearance even though the LED is radically different.
The second way it goes wrong is when you have design innovation for it’s own sake, that is, design that is driven only by the desire for novelty. We see this a lot on the web, where designers are constantly pushing visual change for its own sake. Everyone seems to be looking for the next parallax scroll or animation fad. The end result is overload and eventually, boredom. Since these primarily visual-only design elements are not tethered to any useful functionality they can be used anywhere and everywhere. The result is that they quickly become overused and passé.
2. Good design makes a product useful
Although this principle was originally intended only for a physical product it has fundamental implications for the web. Online, usability is paramount. This principle can very easily be restated as: Good design enhances usability. Never was this principle more often violated than in the days of Flash websites. In pursuit of design we got mysterious navigation and buttons that looked like anything but. Each site seemed to be a unique interactive puzzle.
3. Good design is aesthetic
This is self-explanatory, and we know it when we see it. Everything is in balance, nothing is out of place. It is both harmonious and disruptive.
4. Good design makes a product understandable
I think this is the principle most applicable to web design. Usability is about understandability. A user should be able to look at an interface and know exactly what to do without prompts or explanation. The design should clearly express the functionality. Most of the designers I’ve worked with try to do it the other way around. They come up with a killer design and try to fit the functionality to it. It takes tremendous talent and skill to make the design subservient to the functionality, yet still soar with it.
5. Good design is unobtrusive
Good design has only what it needs and nothing more. A website is a place for visitors to accomplish a task, not an alter at which to worship the creativity of the web designer. (The exception is agency and portfolio sites, which are meant to show off design for its own sake.)
6. Good design is honest
Good design doesn’t try to make something look like more than it is. On the web we see this when a site has redundant links, for example, to make the content look more comprehensive.
7. Good design is long-lasting
When a designer finds excuses to use the latest fad design on a website that site looks dated after only a year or so, as that is the definition of a fad. Authentic design that fills a need or serves usability tends to still look good years into the future.
8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail
I’ve written about this before because it is the principle I encounter most often in my work, usually in the negative. When I see a design that is perfect to the last detail, where everything is both unexpected yet obvious, it thrills me. Most designs have at least one area where the designer dropped the ball, either because the design backed them into a corner on certain elements, or because they lost focus as they worked on the elements they felt were less important.
9. Good design is environmentally-friendly
In it’s original intent, this principle stipulates that a design should minimize physical and visual pollution. I think this is comparable to the effect of popups and self-playing ads that make the Internet a less enjoyable experience than it could be.
10. Good design is as little design as possible
This is by far my favorite principle and the one that has served me best over the years. When I have applied design solely in the service of usability and user experience, using only what I needed and nothing more, those designs have been the most successful and long-lasting. Design flourishes can always be added after the fact, but great design is baked in. It is great because it is authentic and integral.