design
The approach that engineering (and some other) disciplines use to specify how to create or do something. A
successful design must satisfies a (perhaps informal)
{functional specification} (do what it was designed to do);
conforms to the limitations of the target medium (it is
possible to implement); meets implicit or explicit
requirements on performance and resource usage (it is
efficient enough).
A design may also have to satisfy restrictions on the design
process itself, such as its length or cost, or the tools
available for doing the design.
In the {software life-cycle}, design follows {requirements
analysis} and is followed by implementation.
["Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications", 2nd
ed., Grady Booch].
(1996-12-08)