 In our paper, optimization-driven design of a kinesthetic haptic interface with human-like capabilities, we try to answer the question how we can design a universal haptic interface. To achieve this, we analyzed a human arm model with given geometries and joint capabilities in the Cartesian space. In combination with a parameterized haptic manipulator, we created an optimization procedure that maximizes the overlap between the coverage of the human arm and the manipulator. The validation of the found optimal design with the virtual prototype confirms that the manipulator performs as expected.