Several geotechnical design approaches have gained importance in recent years, including the Limit State Design approach of Eurocode 7, and the Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) approach in North America. Researchers have also tried to link the first order reliability method (FORM) with Eurocode 7 and LRFD, via partial factors based on calibration studies of FORM. However, a more flexible approach is to perform the design directly based on FORM, without the intermediary stage of calibrating partial factors. This paper describes a practical and relatively transparent reliability-based design procedure using anchored sheet pile wall as example. The procedure obtains the same solutions as the Hasofer-Lind method and FORM, but in a much simpler and direct manner. Specifically, the embedment depth of an anchored sheet pile wall will be determined. The uncertainties of the soil properties and dredge level will be modelled. The reliability-based design approach can reflect parametric sensitivities from case to case; its advantages over design based on specified partial factors will be discussed.