The term design is used both as a verb and a noun. As a verb, "to design" refers to the process of originating and developing a plan for a product, structure, or component. As a noun, "a design" is used as the final plan (e.g. proposal, description, drawing) or the result of implementing that plan (e.g. object produced, result of the process). More recently, processes (in general) have also been treated as products of design, giving new meaning to the term "process design".

Designing normally requires a designer considering aesthetic, functional, and many other aspects of an object or process, which usually needs considerable research, thought, modeling, interactive adjustment, and re-design.