Cognitive and organisational aspects of design

Research into the software design process currently centres on a particular model of the software design which is based on a number of assumptions that are rarely tested and have little theoretical grounding. This paper attempts to highlight some of these assumptions and to suggest ways in which they might be limiting current research activity. It identifies the life-cycle as the core of the existing paradigm and introduces an alternative model that may be more fruitful for the discussion of cognitive and organisational aspects of the design process.