Design Is Construction, Construction Is Design

Abstract

This is a commentary on Michael Lissack’s two-part article “Understanding is a Design Problem: Cognizing from a Designerly Thinking Perspective.” Lissack’s claim that cognition and meaning making can be understood as design processes is a reiteration of arguments already put forward by constructivist thinkers. By relying on a cognitive science vocabulary and science-based epistemology, Lissack omits a significant and relevant body of work that has argued and explained these points more elegantly, already decades ago. This commentary discusses Lissack’s claim with reference to radical constructivism and design cybernetics and argues for a design-oriented rather than a cognitive science-oriented approach to the subject of design. Keywords: Radical constructivism, design process, design cybernetics, complexity