Good design is honest

„You cannot understand good design if you do not understand people“ - (Dieter Rams in Rams)

I recently read a book called „As Little Design as Possible“ by Sophie Lovell. It’s a book about the famous designer Dieter Rams. He worked at Braun and is considered one of the most influential designers alive. He heavily inspired Steve Jobs and Apple designer Jonathan Ive and their work on the Ipod and many other Apple products. Dieter Rams developed the ten principles for good design. While all of them are mind-blowing, there is one which I want to highlight:

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

The idea that you can manipulate customers into liking a product made me think about the role of design in prototyping. I will dive deeper into this question in my next post. Stay tuned!