Williams (2000) describes design within Design and Technology as a process for students to engage in

when they do technological thinking. Design has four processes: problem solving, systems approach,
invention and manufacturing. He goes on to state that “despite the fact that the terms design and
problem solving are often used interchangeably, problem solving is different to design in that design
deals with ill-defined problems and may not begin with a problem, while of course problem solving
does” (Williams 2000, p. 53). Von Mengersen (2017) explains that there is no strict order in which design
problems can be solved, as “there is no ‘the’ design process, only ‘a’ design process that is infinitely
variable” as a result of the individual designer, how they approach problems and their approach to
design thinking (p. 303). As evidenced by the literature, there is no single definition or interpretation of
design within Design and Technologies in the curriculum illustrating its complexity as a subject area.

Initial perceptions of design in the Australian Curriculum