Design Judgement: Decision-Making in the ‘Real’ World

Abstract

Design is about creating the ‘real’ world around us. Real life is complex, dynamic and uncertain. Truth is difficult enough to know, even with the best science, but ‘reality’, the domain of human experience, can be overwhelmingly paralysing and beyond comprehension or understanding. Careful, accurate description, concomitant with clear explanation, is necessary but not sufficient in the quest for enough understanding to allow wise decisions to be made. The value of judgement is that it allows individuals to overcome their paralysis and engage with the messy complexity of life in a way that, when done well, can bring function, beauty, and meaning to human existence. In this paper we will examine judgement, particularly design judgement. We argue that a better understanding of judgement is needed if we want to improve our design ability in an intentional manner. Judgement is a key dimension in the process of design. The ability to make design judgements is what distinguishes a designer as a designer. The ability to make good design judgements distinguishes good design.