The Design Process is a system for organising creative thinking. Discuss.

The second part of the design process is usually to research and analyse any existing products or solutions for the identified need - which gives the designer an insight into the market, and again organises their creative thoughts to be more logical (by making a designer research existing solutions it should inspire them, while at the same time give them an insight and deeper understanding of the problem - making their creative thinking more constructive.)

The designer must then formulate a brief, and analyse this brief before writing a specification (for desirable and essential elements). All these steps in the process make it quite a complex system - with feedback, continuously referring to the original brief and specification to keep the designers mind on-track. The designer must then do initial ideas and modelling work - a brainstorming exercise to exhaust all the designers possible ideas for solutions - rather than letting them just concentrate throughout the whole process on their first idea - which could be not as satisfactory solution as is possible - but they wouldn't have found the ideal solution through lack of thinking.

The next stages are development and detailing of the final design and to make a prototype - all mechanisms of perfecting the final design, and encouraging creative thought to be rigorous and thorough - to identify loopholes etc.

Finally the design process makes the designer evaluate their ideas - giving them a final chance to identify any problems and adapt or perfect the product.

All these stages when followed through produce a concise plan of time and thought processes in the form of a pattern of procedures to follow.

They organise thought constructively and progressively - through putting restraints on a designer by for example customer needs and likes, and time/ production restraints.

Creative thinking is instinctive, intuitive, problem solving and often unruly - designers make judgements, which cannot be rationalised. The design process brings these thoughts and ideas together to have a positive outcome.

Overall I think that although the design process is not the only way to manipulate creative thought it builds in the discipline necessary for working to a brief - for what is otherwise often a very unruly, 'trial and error' process.

It organises a designers thoughts so that the designer had a clear picture or the objectives of the design - where his thoughts are inevitably taking the design.

The design process is like a ladder of progression towards the final solution - each step is essential for clearly thought out solutions. It encourages progression and innovation in designs, and the all important evaluation at the end of the process.