# What Design Is

**Track:** Design Foundations — Design & Human-Centered Design — proposed (25)
**Framework / surface:** design
**Level:** Beginner
**Prerequisites:** none

**In one line:** Design as intentional problem-solving — changing situations into preferred ones, not decoration.

## Theory, aesthetics & inspiration

Design is not decoration but deliberate problem-solving. Herbert A. Simon gave the field its enduring definition in "The Sciences of the Artificial": everyone designs who devises "courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones." The emphasis falls on intent and consequence, not surface — design begins by framing a problem under real constraints, then choosing among possible futures. John Heskett's "Design: A Very Short Introduction" (2005) widens this to the human capacity to shape our environment to serve our needs and give our lives meaning. The UK Design Council's Double Diamond, refreshed in 2019, still insists on defining the right problem before solving it.

## References

- [The Sciences of the Artificial - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sciences_of_the_Artificial)
- [The Double Diamond - Design Council](https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-resources/the-double-diamond/)
- [John Heskett - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Heskett)