Design: Describing the Blind Men's Elephant

Design is an activity that is central and pervasive in our lives. It is an activity we must understand and one we must be able to do well! This is made difficult by the fact that (1) how we view design changes with the way we view our world, (2) there is no common understanding of the term design, and (3) while design researchers and design practitioners both have much to contribute, they are separate communities. The concept of patterns introduced into architecture by Alexander et al (1977) offers the promise of resolving these problems. But, this promise is largely unrealized. Why this is so, is the focus of this paper.