That's the title of legendary 20th-century designer Dieter Rams' book on his 10 design principles. I've been thinking about these principles constantly from three different perspectives.

First, personally: decluttering and simplifying life. What actually matters versus what just accumulates?

Second, for our app: When we're designing how people interact with information—chats, comments, task revisions, emails—we're constantly asking: What is this piece of information and how can we transform it into something useful?

Third, for our business: What are we delivering that truly moves the needle for clients versus what we've just always done? Maybe the essential work that really matters is narrower and deeper than we think.

Here are Dieter Rams' 10 principles:

1. Good design is innovative.

2. Good design makes a product useful.

3. Good design is aesthetic.

4. Good design makes a product understandable.

5. Good design is unobtrusive.

6. Good design is honest.

7. Good design is long-lasting.

8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail.

9. Good design is environmentally friendly.

10. Good design is as little design as possible.

I love these principles because they force clarity on every decision. What is the use of this? How will the user think through this? What details must we get right?

That last one—"thorough down to the last detail"—has been especially relevant lately. I've been thinking a lot about quality and craftsmanship in the age of AI, where we're drowning in what people are calling "slop"—enormous quantities of mediocre, AI-generated content.

What are the details essential to craftsmanship? How do you get them right every single time?

The principles Rams identifies—long-lasting, honest, unobtrusive, thorough—these are what we expect from human beings creating high-quality work. These are the things AI can't yet achieve consistently.

"Less but better" is more than a design philosophy—it's a business strategy.

When AI makes it trivially easy to produce more, the competitive advantage goes to those who can consistently produce better. Not more campaigns, more content, more features—but essential work executed with extraordinary attention to detail.

For your business, this might mean:

• Fewer service offerings, executed at a higher level

• Less frequent content, but significantly more thoughtful content

• Simpler products with better user experience

• Narrower focus creating deeper client impact

The hard part isn't adding more. It's having the discipline to subtract everything that isn't essential.

What could you cut from your business to focus on what truly matters?