Many companies mistake manifestos for design principles. They create inspiring philosophical statements about what they believe in ("Design should be accessible to all") rather than actionable guidance that helps make decisions. True principles answer "how" questions, not just "why" questions, providing specific direction for daily design choices. As a result, teams end up with documents that sound impressive but offer little practical help when facing design challenges.

Organizations then wonder why inconsistent decisions persist despite having "principles" in place—not realizing they've built a philosophical foundation without the practical framework needed to guide everyday design work.

Here are a few design manifestos that you can use as inspiration:

01 Dieter Rams' "Ten Principles for Good Design"

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

02 Google Material Design Manifesto

1. Material is the metaphor

2. Bold, graphic, intentional

3. Motion provides meaning

4. Flexible foundation

5. Cross-platform

03 Airbnb Design Manifesto

1. Unified: Each piece is part of a greater whole and should contribute positively to the system at scale

2. Universal: Airbnb is used around the world by a wide global community

3. Iconic: We're focused on making meaningful and memorable design

4. Conversational: Our use of motion breathes life into our products, and allows us to communicate with users in a more human way

5. The way we build is as important as what we build

04 IBM Design Manifesto

1. Focus on user outcomes

2. Stay restlessly reinvent

3. Design for scale

4. Practice rapid prototyping

5. Diverse empowered teams

05 Salesforce Lightning Design Manifesto

1. Clarity: Eliminate ambiguity. Enable people to see, understand, and act with confidence.

2. Efficiency: Streamline and optimize workflows. Intelligently anticipate needs to help people work better, smarter, and faster.

3. Consistency: Create familiar patterns and intuitive experiences that let people do their thing while feeling like part of a cohesive experience.

4. Beauty: Demonstrate respect for people's time and attention through thoughtful and elegant craftsmanship.

06 IKEA Design Manifesto

1. Democratic design (form, function, quality, sustainability, and low price)

2. We're for the many, not the few

3. Form follows function

4. Beautiful everyday objects

5. Better everyday life

07 37signals (Basecamp) Design Manifesto

1. Clarity over cleverness

2. Simplicity over complexity

3. Quality over quantity

4. Consistency over uniformity

5. Usefulness over completeness

6. Work for the majority, accommodate the edge cases

7. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon

8. Resist adding "just one more thing"

9. Ship, then improve

10. Stand on the shoulders of others

08 Microsoft's Inclusive Design Manifesto

1. Recognize exclusion

2. Learn from diversity

3. Solve for one, extend to many

09 Spotify Design Manifesto

1. Relevant to user needs

2. Simply intuitive and beautiful

3. Emotive and distinct

4. Quality before anything

5. Optimize for repeated use

10 Apple Design Manifesto (as demonstrated in their work)

1. Simplicity

2. Focus on experience over features

3. Attention to detail

4. Design for how people actually use products

5. Design the ecosystem, not just the product

11 Square Design Manifesto

1. Refined: Thoughtfully design every detail

2. Obvious: Make the complex simple and approachable

3. Human: Create systems that put people first