--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Design should not dominate things, should…" description: "\"Design should not dominate things, should not dominate people. It should help people. That's its role.\" — Dieter Rams" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72c/dieter-rams-15086_design_design-should-not-dominate-things-should_2052985.png" --- # Design should not dominate things, should not dominate… ![“Design should not dominate things, should not dominate people. It should help people. That's its role.” quote by Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72c/dieter-rams-15086_design_design-should-not-dominate-things-should_2052985.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72c/dieter-rams-15086_design_design-should-not-dominate-things-should_2052985.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72c/dieter-rams-15086_design_design-should-not-dominate-things-should_2052985.png) > “Design should not dominate things, should not dominate people. It should help people. That's its role.” [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Design must serve people, not control them; its purpose is to assist and enhance human experience. **In simple terms:** Design should help, not control. Key Takeaway Prioritize user needs over aesthetics. Themes design human‑centered functionality Mood thoughtful balanced Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - product design - interface design - architectural planning - public spaces Key Concepts minimalism user experience ergonomics Questions to Reflect On - How does your design improve daily life? - What aspects of design feel intrusive? A Different Perspective Design can become overly aesthetic, neglecting practicality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/design/) [Design Dominate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/design-dominate-3878953/) [Dominate People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dominate-people-3878954/) [Dominate Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dominate-things-3878955/) [Help people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/help-people/) [Helping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Role](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-role-1738665/) [Roles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roles/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) ## Related quotes > [The world is not uni-cultural. We must live together rather than seeking to dominate each other. The people in the world cannot accept domination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-morsi/the-world-is-not-uni-cultural-we-must-live-together-rather-than/) [Mohammed Morsi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-morsi/) > [I always felt at odds, politically, with people, and with any group of people that congregate and declare themselves as some sort of movement.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-broadrick/i-always-felt-at-odds-politically-with-people-and-with-any-group-of/) [Justin Broadrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-broadrick/) > [When you dominate other people's emotions, the time has to come when you will have to pay, and heavily, for that privilege.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-waters/when-you-dominate-other-people-s-emotions-the-time-has-to-come-when/) [Ethel Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-waters/) > [Whoever has the mind to fight has broken his connection with the universe. If you try to dominate people you are already defeated. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/whoever-has-the-mind-to-fight-has-broken-his-connection-with-the/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [It is incumbent upon us as justices, to educate, to educate, to help people understand what it is that we do what the law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ketanji-brown-jackson/it-is-incumbent-upon-us-as-justices-to-educate-to-educate-to-help/) [Ketanji Brown Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ketanji-brown-jackson/) > [We surround ourselves with what is better or see other people as role models. You go, "If they can do this, so can I."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/we-surround-ourselves-with-what-is-better-or-see-other-people-as-role/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [People only see you as your last role, so it's hard to break out of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-walton/people-only-see-you-as-your-last-role-so-it-s-hard-to-break-out-of/) [David Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-walton/) > [The problem in India is that people see you in one role and then they want to offer you similar roles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandira-bedi/the-problem-in-india-is-that-people-see-you-in-one-role-and-then-they/) [Mandira Bedi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandira-bedi/) > [To change something in the minds of people - that's the role of an intellectual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/to-change-something-in-the-minds-of-people-that-s-the-role-of-an/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [People who are role models for the principles and values of the organization, who buy in and understand the vision of what the organization…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-saban/people-who-are-role-models-for-the-principles-and-values-of-the/) [Nick Saban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-saban/) > [Email is a wonderful thing for those people whose role in life is to be on top of things, but not for me: my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-knuth/email-is-a-wonderful-thing-for-those-people-whose-role-in-life-is-to/) [Donald Knuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-knuth/) > [Even stupid people have a role to play in your life. They make you wiser and more patient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/even-stupid-people-have-a-role-to-play-in-your-life-they-make-you/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) > [This is what happens when you try to help people. You get screwed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/this-is-what-happens-when-you-try-to-help-people-you-get-screwed/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-need-in-a-special-way-to-work-twice-as-hard-to-help-people/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [I want to help people struggling with whatever it is they're going through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santan-dave/i-want-to-help-people-struggling-with-whatever-it-is-they-re-going/) [Santan Dave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santan-dave/) ## More by Dieter Rams > [Good design is long-lasting! It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/good-design-is-long-lasting-it-avoids-being-fashionable-and-therefore/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) > [Good design is innovative 2. Good design makes a product useful 3. Good design is aesthetic 4. Good design makes a product understandable 5.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/good-design-is-innovative-2-good-design-makes-a-product-useful-3-good/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) > [Products have to be designed in a way that they are comprehensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/products-have-to-be-designed-in-a-way-that-they-are-comprehensible/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) > [I like to be in New York. Le Corbusier described it in the 1930s as a 'wonderful catastrophe.' It is still a wonderful catastrophe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/i-like-to-be-in-new-york-le-corbusier-described-it-in-the-1930s-as-a/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) > [Good designers must always be avant-gardists, always one step ahead of the times. They should – and must – question everything generally thought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/good-designers-must-always-be-avant-gardists-always-one-step-ahead-of/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) > [A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasizes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/a-product-is-bought-to-be-used-it-has-to-satisfy-certain-criteria-not/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) > [Things which are different in order simply to be different are seldom better, but that which is made to be better is almost always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/things-which-are-different-in-order-simply-to-be-different-are-seldom/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) > [I hate everything that is driven by fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/i-hate-everything-that-is-driven-by-fashion/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) > [I am not an early bird. I go to bed normally between midnight and 1 o'clock, so it is understandable that I cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/i-am-not-an-early-bird-i-go-to-bed-normally-between-midnight-and-1-o/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) > [Nothing works without details. They are everything, the baseline of quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/nothing-works-without-details-they-are-everything-the-baseline-of/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) > [Not the spectacular things are the important things - the unspectacular things are the important things, especially in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/not-the-spectacular-things-are-the-important-things-the-unspectacular/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) > [As designers we have a great responsibility. I believe designers should eliminate the unnecessary. That means eliminating everything that is modish because this kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/as-designers-we-have-a-great-responsibility-i-believe-designers/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) > [Good design is making something intelligible and memorable. Great design is making something memorable and meaningful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/good-design-is-making-something-intelligible-and-memorable-great/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) > [As designers, we have a great responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/as-designers-we-have-a-great-responsibility/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) > [There is a lot of bad architecture. What we need more is to look at how our landscape should look in the next decades.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/there-is-a-lot-of-bad-architecture-what-we-need-more-is-to-look-at/) [Dieter Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) [Explore all 44 Dieter Rams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/) ## More Design quotes > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Plenty of white space and generous line spacing,and don't make the type size too miserly. Then you will be assured of a product fit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giambattista-bodoni/plenty-of-white-space-and-generous-line-spacing-and-don-t-make-the/) [Giambattista Bodoni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giambattista-bodoni/) > [Designers shouldn’t design for museums any more than mummies should die for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-caplan/designers-shouldn-t-design-for-museums-any-more-than-mummies-should/) [Ralph Caplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-caplan/) > [The market may never coalesce around one basic design, or even around two or three dominant devices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/the-market-may-never-coalesce-around-one-basic-design-or-even-around/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [The display is the computer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-hsun-huang/the-display-is-the-computer/) [Jen-Hsun Huang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jen-hsun-huang/) > [Design is not making beauty, beauty emerges from selection, affinities, integration, love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-kahn/design-is-not-making-beauty-beauty-emerges-from-selection-affinities/) [Louis Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-kahn/) > [The beauty of New York is unintentional; it arose independent of human design, like a stalagmite cavern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-beauty-of-new-york-is-unintentional-it-arose-independent-of-human/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Like many other scientists who hold the Catholic faith, I see the Creator's plan and purpose fulfilled in our universe. I see a planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-r-miller/like-many-other-scientists-who-hold-the-catholic-faith-i-see-the/) [Kenneth R. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-r-miller/) > [I design some of my own clothes now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiernan-shipka/i-design-some-of-my-own-clothes-now/) [Kiernan Shipka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiernan-shipka/) > [Programmers are always surrounded by complexity; we cannot avoid it… If our basic tool, the language in which we design and code our programs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/programmers-are-always-surrounded-by-complexity-we-cannot-avoid-it-if/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [Design is a very personal thing. It's like art. Your personal choice plays a big role.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gauri-khan/design-is-a-very-personal-thing-it-s-like-art-your-personal-choice/) [Gauri Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gauri-khan/) > [“Designing posters, for me, is not only a commercial pursuit but also a philosophical endeavor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fang-chen/designing-posters-for-me-is-not-only-a-commercial-pursuit-but-also-a/) [Fang Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fang-chen/) > [I am not a great believer in dialectical struggle. I am much more of a fusion person. I see it as a dialogue, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-warner/i-am-not-a-great-believer-in-dialectical-struggle-i-am-much-more-of-a/) [Marina Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-warner/) > [Users are not designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-nielsen/users-are-not-designers/) [Jakob Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-nielsen/) > [I write the way you might arrange flowers. Not every try works, but each one launches another. Every constraint, even dullness, frees up a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-powers/i-write-the-way-you-might-arrange-flowers-not-every-try-works-but/) [Richard Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-powers/) [Browse all 5,563 Design quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/design/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Design should not dominate things, should not dominate people. It should help people. That's its role.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dieter Rams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/design-should-not-dominate-things-should-not-dominate-people-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Design" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/design-should-not-dominate-things-should-not-dominate-people-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72c/dieter-rams-15086_design_design-should-not-dominate-things-should_2052985.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72c/dieter-rams-15086_design_design-should-not-dominate-things-should_2052985.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72c/dieter-rams-15086_design_design-should-not-dominate-things-should_2052985.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Design should not dominate things, should not dominate people. It should help people. That's its role.” — Dieter Rams", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Dieter Rams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-rams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Design should not dominate things, should...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/design-should-not-dominate-things-should-not-dominate-people-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-rams/design-should-not-dominate-things-should-not-dominate-people-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```