In a previous post I defined design as a Creative Problem Solving Process — but to what end?

Why even attempt to engage in the act of creative problem solving? For this, we have to think about the purpose of design, which I believe is to impact experience.

I could have said shape experience but I’d venture into the territory of ‘the makers & the shapers’ who would like to claim sole ownership over the domain of design. So it is with careful thought that I chose the verb impact.

Design — understood as a creative problem solving process for the purpose of impacting experience — opens the floodgates of understanding with regard to the higher potential of design as not just an art form or method of making, but as a focused approach whose intent is to impact the human experience. And whether the scale is grand (like the design challenge before the framers of the U.S. Constitution) or seemingly insignificant (like the design challenge of what to wear in the morning) each thoughtful and intentioned approach is nonetheless a design approach.