Thank you to Ken and Lubomir for drawing attention to the two different kinds of approach to definitions of design.
Yes, of course there are public non-formal uses of the term design and as Thea, Klaus and other wrote it is not possible to manage those meanings.
I'd assumed that the discussions on this list were NEVER concerned with that kind of definition of design.
This is a list about research. The only focus of definitions in a research list is on formal definitions. The main characteristic of these kinds of formal definition is epistemological.
What is IRRELEVANT and USELESS in a formal technical definition of design for design research and design theory?
1. The history of the use and meaning and etymology of the term 'design' - not needed
2. How the term 'design' is commonly used in every day society - not relevant in any way.
3. How the term 'Design' is used informally by designers - not relevant as research and theory making requires an epistemologically formal technical definition.
This explains the gap between those who are working with formal technical definitions of 'design' for formal theory making about design activities and those who are working on definitions of design for some for some other purpose.
The lack of formal technical definitions in design research of 'design' and a wide variety of other important terms is a problems.
It is the reason why most design research PhDs are relatively worthless and why there has not yet emerged a significant body of theory in design anywhere except technical design disciplines.
The situation is easy to resolve...
1. Stop using informal definitions of design concepts as if they were formal technical definitions
2. Either: a) instead of design terminology, use formally defined concepts from other fields; or, b) develop formal technical definitions of 'design concepts.
For 2b, there is NO benefit in reviewing the design or design research literature. It is a waste of time.
Except in some engineering and IS design fields, there has been zero attempts to identify formal technical definitions of 'design' and other concepts useful in design theory (nor any attempt even to formally define the concepts 'design research' and 'design theory'.
Best regards,
Terence
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Dr Terence Love,
School of Design and Built Environment, Curtin University, Western Australia
CEO, Design Out Crime and CPTED Centre
PO Box 226, Quinns Rocks, Western Australia 6030
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+61 (0)4 3497 5848
ORCID 0000-0002-2436-7566
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