1.1 Design is intentional creation.
1.2 Objects, systems, activities, and processes can be created intentionally.
1.3 Creation is the act of bringing something into existence or into a new form.

2.1 A thing is a whole formed from a configuration of parts.
2.2 A combination is the result of bringing parts into relation.
2.3 To combine is to select and arrange two or more entities. When arranged in a novel way, these entities form a new whole with properties not reducible to the parts alone.
2.4 When selection and arrangement are guided by purpose, the result is design.
2.5 Purpose may be explicit or implicit, but it directs the act toward an end.
2.6 Design is therefore the purposeful arrangement of elements toward an intended end.

3.1 Planning is the act of thinking about actions required to reach an end. Design includes planning but is not limited to it.
3.2 Design unfolds through both thought and action.
3.3 That which results from this unfolding is the product.

4.1 The success of a design is measured by the degree to which its intended end is realized.
4.2 The plan and the result are not identical. A sound plan may yield a poor result, and an imperfect plan may yield a good one.
4.3 The value of a design lies in how its behavior aligns with the conditions in which it exists.
4.4 A design is good insofar as it enables its end under those conditions.
4.5 A design is flawed when it fails to do so.

5.1 The good is that which fulfills its end.
5.2 The good is that which is fitting to its purpose.
5.3 The good is that which is coherent in itself.
5.4 The good is that which can be justified by reason.
5.5 These qualities may stand in tension and are not always fully attainable.
5.6 Good design is the reconciliation of these tensions in relation to an end.

6.1 Design exists within a wider order and produces consequences within it.
6.2 A design that advances its end while diminishing its conditions is flawed.
6.3 A design that sustains or improves its conditions tends toward the good.
6.4 No design is independent of its effects.

7.1 Form arises from the requirements of the end.
7.2 That which does not contribute to the end is excess.
7.3 Simplicity is the reduction of excess without loss of function.
7.4 A design should contain no more than is necessary, and no less than is sufficient.
7.5 Regularity supports expectation, but deviation may be required where conditions demand it.

8.1 Design is guided by reason.
8.2 Design is perceived through experience.
8.3 Reason orders the structure; experience reveals its effect.
8.4 A design that neglects either is incomplete.

9.1 To reason is to provide cause, explanation, or justification.
9.2 A design is logical when its form can be understood as necessary or fitting in relation to its end.
9.3 Logical coherence strengthens a design, but does not guarantee its success.
9.4 Good design is intelligible, even when complex.

10.1 A design may be executed when there is sufficient reason to believe it will realize its end.
10.2 Execution reveals what reasoning alone cannot.