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In design, the means justify the ends.

The following is an excerpt from Read Me First, a part of my Design Guide.

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The design process is not just what designers ‘do’, it’s also what they facilitate by collaborating with the client. For the process to function effectively and efficiently, the client and designer must work in harmony. This requires the designer to adapt their design process to each client and project, and for the client to understand how the process can work for them.

A defining characteristics of the design process is that is comprised not of steps, but rather a variety of activities. These activities are performed with varying intensity and frequency throughout the process, but a good designer uses the results of each activity to inform the next, while being conscious of current and anticipated needs.

One way of portraying the design process is to represent each phase of the design process as consisting of two opposite activities, performed repeatedly and in concert with other phases to create harmony. In each phase, thought and action are the basic elements. Designers think before they act, then act on that knowledge, evaluate the results, react to that and so forth in order to create an appropriate, rational and well-executed result.

The design process is therefore about much more than just the production of the final product. Production is in fact almost the last stage – it’s all the work done up to that point that is most critical to the success of the project once produced. Within the design process, the means justify the ends.

Design when utilized as part of a comprehensive organizational strategy becomes a feedback cycle. Past designs are analyzed to judge their effectiveness, and this in turn affects how the organization oversees the growth and maturation of their design strategy.