An `AI in Design' View of Design
Problem Description

Design Target

What kind of objects does the system construct?

{design plans/processes, design artifacts}

Discussion. There are two important objects constructed during design activity: the artifact description and the design plan (or process). Some design systems focus almost exclusively on ``the artifact''. In this case, the design plan might be retrieved from a collection of plans, and its instantiation, when ``executed'', generates a description of the artifact. In the extreme case, a system might retrieve a generalized description of the artifact and produce a design with minimal planning or none at all. Other systems construct ``the design plan'' themselves and use it to create the artifact description. Some of these systems may even be concerned only about how an artifact will be designed and not about the particular values of the parameters describing the object.

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