There is a large body of pedagogy surrounding the use of a common design methodology in engineering. The well known description of the design process as a series of steps from problem identification, through conceptual design to detailed design has been a standard in engineering design courses of all levels for at least 50 years. The design process does indeed document the main components of successful design. However, the ability of engineering students to grasp the significance of the steps in the design process is not ideal. In fact, it might be said that employing the standard design process is much like playing the music of Mozart: Too hard for professionals but too easy for students. Even at the professional level, blind adherence to a set procedure for design too often results in the creation of inferior products. Much of the literature describing the loss of engineering design skills, particularly in North America, focuses on the ways in which the process might be given meaning for the students of engineering design. It is our view that the great number of pedagogical devices, case studies and design projects that have been developed over the years to demonstrate the application of the traditional design process (with sporadic levels of success) is an indication that there may be a problem with the portrayal and implementation of the design process itself. In short, the design process makes sense when taking a retrospective view of a successful design. However, it breaks down when a novice attempts to apply the process to a real design project. For example, the first design process step of determining the problem is known by every designer to be the most difficult part of design and often occurs closer to the end of the actual design process than the beginning.
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