How do others define designers’ core competencies? It depends. Chris Conley, who teaches at the Institute of Design in Chicago, has presented seven competencies he believes are at the core of design. They are:
- The ability to understand the context or circumstances of a design problem and frame them in an insightful way
- The ability to work at a level of abstraction appropriate to the situation at hand
- The ability to model and visualize solutions even with imperfect information
- An approach to problem solving that involves the simultaneous creation and evaluation of multiple alternatives
- An ability to add or maintain value as pieces are integrated into a whole
- An ability to establish purposeful relationships among elements of a solution and between the solution and its context
- An ability to use formto embody ideas and to communicate their value
