The design is both an art and a science. The design science focuses on the science part of the design, including the studies of the designers and the interaction between the people and the created artifacts in the society, and the studies of the structures and their behaviors. There is no clear boundary between these two domains, and the Science is what they share. The design as a science should follow the scientific research paradigm and investigate design laws with descriptive theories. The current design research tends to provide normative methods, which can work in certain cases but cannot be extended to general design cases. Normative methods prescribe what the designers OUGHT to do, while descriptive theories tell us what IS behind the design practices. The normative methods can work in certain cases but not in general cases. They are necessary for the design because the design is a goal-oriented activity. However, only after we understand what IS behind the different design practices can we construct effective design methods to guide better design. In the case of computer design systems, the normative methods lead to the design automation, but only descriptive theories can pave the way to the autonomous design or the partially autonomous design.

design science  /  normative  /  descriptive  /  design theory