Credit: Eric Hanson

If you turn on your TV today, you may see a commercial for ­Target in which the word "DESIGN," big and bold, flashes on a screen filled with oddly dressed people running around. "Is this a kind of madness?" you might ask yourself. But as the vibrant imagery on the TV ­settles in your mind, you are forced to conclude, "Ah, this is ... design."
If you are a trained technologist, you will quickly shake yourself out of your trance and contradict that notion. "No," you'll think. "Design is about efficiency, usability, and structural elegance." I have spent the majority of my adult life wondering about this fundamental question: what exactly is design?And I'm still asking.

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