An understanding acquired over time that design is common sense. That design is everywhere. That we are constantly designing whether we realise it or not.
I can point to two major sources that may have garnered this view. A lecture during my Bachelors brought up examples that a mother designs experience of a family (eg: food choices) and we design ourselves in what we wear. This lecture being a part of an introductory course to HCI, coming from a lecturer who we looked up to, I took this view for granted. Later on, Don Norman's claim that we're all designers [1] further cemented this understanding.
This view was so ingrained that, I delivered this message in a presentation to 100+ employees of the product company I was working with (Dec 2016).
"If everyone is a designer because they change the color of their walls, then everyone is a mathematician because they count change at the grocery store.
The above comment by Bill Buxton [2] countering Don Norman was much brought up in HCI articles, probing the question, what is a designer?. These articles ask for rigour, design process replicability and address the need to define design. This view is something I'm coming to appreciate the more experience I gain with research and completely align with at the moment (it's Nov 2025).
Wondering...
Wondering...
Wondering...
Still wondering...