There are also broader forms of higher education in design studies and design thinking, and design also features as a part of general education, for example within Design and Technology. The development of design in general education in the 1970s led to a need to identify fundamental aspects of ‘designerly’ ways of knowing, thinking and acting, and hence to the establishment of design as a distinct discipline of study.

Design process

Substantial disagreement exists concerning how designers in many fields, whether amateur or professional, alone or in teams, produce designs. Design researchers Dorst and Dijkhuis acknowledge that "there are many ways of describing design processes", and compare and contrast two dominant but different views of the design process: as a rational problem solving process and as a process of reflection-in-action. They suggested that these two paradigms "represent two fundamentally different ways of looking at the world – positivism and constructionism". The paradigms may reflect differing views of how designing should be done and how it actually is done, and they both have a variety of names. The problem-solving view has been called "the rational model", "technical rationality" and "the reason-centric perspective". The alternative view has been called "reflection-in-action", "co-evolution", and "the action-centric perspective".

Rational model

The rational model was independently developed by Herbert A. Simon, an American scientist, and two German engineering design theorists, Gerhard Pahl and Wolfgang Beitz. It posits that:

Designers attempt to optimize a design candidate for known constraints and objectives.

The design process is plan-driven.

The design process is understood in terms of a discrete sequence of stages.The rational model is based on a rationalist philosophy and underlies the waterfall model, systems development life cycle, and much of the engineering design literature. According to the rationalist philosophy, design is informed by research and knowledge in a predictable and controlled manner.Typical stages consistent with the rational model include the following:

Pre-production design

Design brief – initial statement of intended outcome.

Analysis – analysis of design goals.

Research – investigating similar design solutions in the field or related topics.

Specification – specifying requirements of a design solution for a product (product design specification) or service.

Problem solving – conceptualizing and documenting design solutions.

Presentation – presenting design solutions.

Design during production.

Development – continuation and improvement of a designed solution.

Product testing – in situ testing of a designed solution.

Post-production design feedback for future designs.

Implementation – introducing the designed solution into the environment.

Evaluation and conclusion – summary of process and results, including constructive criticism and suggestions for future improvements.

Redesign – any or all stages in the design process repeated (with corrections made) at any time before, during, or after production.Each stage has many associated best practices.

Criticism of the rational model

The rational model has been widely criticized on two primary grounds:

Designers do not work this way – extensive empirical evidence has demonstrated that designers do not act as the rational model suggests.

Unrealistic assumptions – goals are often unknown when a design project begins, and the requirements and constraints continue to change.

Action-centric model

The action-centric perspective is a label given to a collection of interrelated concepts, which are antithetical to the rational model. It posits that:

Designers use creativity and emotion to generate design candidates.

The design process is improvised.

No universal sequence of stages is apparent – analysis, design and implementation are contemporary and inextricably linked.The action-centric perspective is based on an empiricist philosophy and broadly consistent with the agile approach and methodical development. Substantial empirical evidence supports the veracity of this perspective in describing the actions of real designers. Like the rational model, the action-centric model sees design as informed by research and knowledge.At least two views of design activity are consistent with the action-centric perspective. Both involve these three basic activities:

In the reflection-in-action paradigm, designers alternate between "framing", "making moves", and "evaluating moves". "Framing" refers to conceptualizing the problem, i.e., defining goals and objectives. A "move" is a tentative design decision. The evaluation process may lead to further moves in the design.

In the sensemaking–coevolution–implementation framework, designers alternate between its three titular activities. Sensemaking includes both framing and evaluating moves. Implementation is the process of constructing the design object. Coevolution is "the process where the design agent simultaneously refines its mental picture of the design object based on its mental picture of the context, and vice versa".The concept of the design cycle is understood as a circular time structure, which may start with the thinking of an idea, then expressing it by the use of visual or verbal means of communication (design tools), the sharing and perceiving of the expressed idea, and finally starting a new cycle with the critical rethinking of the perceived idea. Anderson points out that this concept emphasizes the importance of the means of expression, which at the same time are means of perception of any design ideas.

Philosophies

Philosophy of design is the study of definitions of design, and the assumptions, foundations, and implications of design. There are also many informal 'philosophies' for guiding design such as personal values or preferred approaches.

Approaches to design

Some of these values and approaches include:

Critical design uses designed artifacts as an embodied critique or commentary on existing values, morals, and practices in a culture.

Ecological design is a design approach that prioritizes the consideration of the environmental impacts of a product or service, over its whole lifecycle.

Participatory design (originally co-operative design, now often co-design) is the practice of collective creativity to design, attempting to actively involve all stakeholders (e.g. employees, partners, customers, citizens, end-users) in the design process to help ensure the result meets their needs and is usable.

Scientific design refers to industrialised design based on scientific knowledge. Science can be used to study the effects and need for a potential or existing product in general and to design products that are based on scientific knowledge. For instance, a scientific design of face masks for COVID-19 mitigation may be based on investigations of filtration performance, mitigation performance, thermal comfort, biodegradability and flow resistance.

Service design designing or organizing the experience around a product and the service associated with a product's use.

Sociotechnical system design, a philosophy and tools for participative designing of work arrangements and supporting processes – for organizational purpose, quality, safety, economics, and customer requirements in core work processes, the quality of peoples experience at work, and the needs of society.

Transgenerational design, the practice of making products and environments compatible with those physical and sensory impairments associated with human aging and which limit major activities of daily living.

User-centered design, which focuses on the needs, wants, and limitations of the end-user of the designed artifact. One aspect of user-centered design is ergonomics.

Relationship with the arts

The boundaries between art and design are blurry, largely due to a range of applications both for the term 'art' and the term 'design'. Applied arts can include industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, and the decorative arts which traditionally includes craft objects. In graphic arts (2D image making that ranges from photography to illustration), the distinction is often made between fine art and commercial art, based on the context within which the work is produced and how it is traded.

Types of designing