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Danny de Vries:
10 Principles of Life

Back in the late 1970s, Dieter Rams was becoming increasingly concerned by the state of the world around him: “An impenetrable confusion of forms, colours and noises. He then made his famous ten principles for good design. These are my 10 principles. They are not about design, but principles that guide me in my daily life.

Inspired by:
Dieter Rams

Design inspiration:
Vitsoe & Readymag

01

Be transparent

Don't build a wall around things. Make mistakes, be open about them and figure out how to recover from mistakes instead of avoiding them. Show lots of work in progress instead of polished results.

02

Challenge me

Solve problems instead of doing production work like a machine. You are not just a pair of hands. Work on complicated things which yields a solution that accomplishes a goal.

03

Take responsibility

Be direct, straight forward and honest in your communication. Regularly update and defend your position. Take responsibility for the work you put into the world.

04

Keep your word

I do what I say I'm going to do. I make realistic deadlines, regularly update and actually reach them. Tell me if something is wrong. I listen to your feedback. Good feedback isn't always positive feedback.

05

Make small steps

Improve with small steps and make it better 1% each time. Start doing something, don't just plan or think but start executing. Ignore details early on, the work gets better each iteration.

06

Question everything

You don't have all the answers. Start with the why and then continuously learn and self-improve. Something new is always worth trying. Always ask if something is really worth it.

07

Help others

Surround yourself with people that push you further. Share what you learn, write down your own view and opinions and teach others to create better digital products.

08

Less but better

Only do things that make a difference. Stick to things that are essential (constraints) and then build upon them. The world is full of things that don't matter. Half of the shit is unnecessary.

09

Choose calm

Pick the things that are not worth doing. Effective is not the same as productive. There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. People focus to much on being busy.

10

Make time

Small interruptions are the enemy of productivity. Only focus on things that matter, know when to quit and when to say no. Days are being sliced up in short interrupted sessions instead of long Deep Working sessions.