Good design makes a product useful – Rams’ Second Principle

Dieter Rams' "Ten Principles of Good Design," Principle 2: "Good design makes a product useful (Gutes Design macht ein Produkt brauchbar)." This statement seems obvious at first glance. However, the "usefulness (Brauchbarkeit)" that Rams defines has a much broader meaning than the word we use every day.

Three Dimensions of Usefulness

In an official statement (published by Vitsœ), Rams explains: "A product has to satisfy certain criteria – not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic."
Usefulness has three dimensions. The first is functional usefulness – whether the product fulfills its purpose. This is a prerequisite, but for Rams, it's merely the starting line. The second is psychological usefulness – whether it can be used intuitively and its operation understood without instructions. "Most people don't want to read instructions," Rams says. The third is aesthetic usefulness – whether it doesn't spoil your mood every time you see it, as something you use daily.
For Rams, aesthetic quality is not "decoration." The beauty of a product that is touched multiple times a day shapes the user's mental environment – this is the basis for considering "aesthetics = a component of usefulness."

Ornamentation Impairs Brauchbarkeit

"Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it" – Rams' words provide a clear justification for the exclusion of ornamentation.
Ornamentation creates visual noise and increases the cognitive cost of figuring out how to use something. The presence of unnecessary elements makes it harder to know where to touch. Rams excludes ornamentation not as an aesthetic judgment, but to protect functional and psychological usefulness. This philosophy resonates with the philosophy of the Ulm School of Design – "Design is not about making things look attractive; it is about making them work. Form emerges from function, material, and manufacturing constraints."

T3 Pocket Radio – Self-Explanatory Design

The 1958 T3 Pocket Radio is a textbook example of "psychological usefulness." A speaker grille on the front left, a circular tuner on the front right – there are no other elements. The tuner dial has ridges, conveying the non-verbal instruction to "touch and turn." The frequency scale indicates the direction of operation, allowing it to be used without instructions.
"People carry pocket-sized things and use them" – this essence is embodied in its form. Permanently held in MoMA and known for its striking resemblance to the design of the first Apple iPod, the "T3" is a product that achieved usefulness in all three dimensions: functional, psychological, and aesthetic.

Rethinking "Usefulness" in the Bathroom

Let's apply Rams' three dimensions to the bathroom, which we use every day. Does a towel rail complete its function with a single action of "hanging and taking"? Can a toilet brush be intuitively removed from its holder in one motion? Does a soap dish not impose the "task" of drainage on the user? – These are all questions of "functional usefulness."
ZACK's magnetic soap holder achieves zero contact surface by simply "attaching" the soap, eliminating the hassle of drainage. The product line, unified in a single material, stainless steel, reduces visual clutter and decision fatigue. And the "unobtrusive" design preserves the aesthetic usefulness of the entire bathroom space.
"Less, but better" – Rams' words quietly pose questions in front of the everyday washbasin. Next time, we will delve into Principle 3: "Good design is aesthetic."

Photo: Vitsœ / CC BY-SA 3.0. Flipped horizontally, background generated, text added.