1. [n]  the act of working out the form of something (as by making a sketch or outline or plan); "he contributed to the design of a new instrument"
2. [n]  a decorative or artistic work; "the coach had a design on the doors"
3. [n]  a preliminary sketch indicating the plan for something; "the design of a building"
4. [n]  the creation of something in the mind
5. [n]  an arrangement scheme; "the awkward design of the keyboard made operation difficult"; "it was an excellent design for living"; "a plan for seating guests"
6. [n]  something intended as a guide for making something else; "a blueprint for a house"; "a pattern for a skirt"
7. [n]  an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions; "his intent was to provide a new translation"; "good intentions are not enough"; "it was created with the conscious aim of answering immediate needs"; "he made no secret of his designs"
8. [v]  intend or have as a purpose; "She designed to go far in the world of business"
9. [v]  design something for a specific role or purpose or effect; "This room is not designed for work"
10. [v]  create designs; "Dupont designs for the house of Chanel"
11. [v]  conceive or fashion in the mind; invent; "She designed a good excuse for not attending classes that day"
12. [v]  make or work out a plan for; devise; "They contrived to murder their boss"; "design a new sales strategy"; "plan an attack"
13. [v]  make a design of; plan out in systematic, often graphic form; "design a better mousetrap"; "plan the new wing of the museum"
14. [v]  create the design for; create or execute in an artistic or highly skilled manner; "Chanel designed the famous suit"

Design
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1. \De*sign"\ (?; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Designed}; p.
   pr. & vb. n. {Designing}.] [F. d['e]signer to designate, cf.
   F. dessiner to draw, dessin drawing, dessein a plan or
   scheme; all, ultimately, from L. designare to designate; de-
   + signare to mark, mark out, signum mark, sign. See {Sign},
   and cf. {Design}, n., {Designate}.]
   1. To draw preliminary outline or main features of; to sketch
      for a pattern or model; to delineate; to trace out; to
      draw. --Dryden.
   2. To mark out and exhibit; to designate; to indicate; to
      show; to point out; to appoint.
            We shall see Justice design the victor's chivalry.
                                                  --Shak.
            Meet me to-morrow where the master And this
            fraternity shall design.              --Beau. & Fl.
   3. To create or produce, as a work of art; to form a plan or
      scheme of; to form in idea; to invent; to project; to lay
      out in the mind; as, a man designs an essay, a poem, a
      statue, or a cathedral.
   4. To intend or purpose; -- usually with for before the
      remote object, but sometimes with to.
            Ask of politicians the end for which laws were
            originally designed.                  --Burke.
            He was designed to the study of the law. --Dryden.
   Syn: To sketch; plan; purpose; intend; propose; project;
        mean.
   

2. \De*sign"\, v. i.
   To form a design or designs; to plan.
   {Design for}, to intend to go to. [Obs.] ``From this city she
      designed for Collin [Cologne].'' --Evelyn.
   

3. \De*sign"\, n. [Cf. dessein, dessin.]
   1. A preliminary sketch; an outline or pattern of the main
      features of something to be executed, as of a picture, a
      building, or a decoration; a delineation; a plan.
   2. A plan or scheme formed in the mind of something to be
      done; preliminary conception; idea intended to be
      expressed in a visible form or carried into action;
      intention; purpose; -- often used in a bad sense for evil
      intention or purpose; scheme; plot.
            The vast design and purpos? of the King. --Tennyson.
            The leaders of that assembly who withstood the
            designs of a besotted woman.          --Hallam.
            A . . . settled design upon another man's life.
                                                  --Locke.
            How little he could guess the secret designs of the
            court!                                --Macaulay.
   3. Specifically, intention or purpose as revealed or inferred
      from the adaptation of means to an end; as, the argument
      from design.
   4. The realization of an inventive or decorative plan; esp.,
      a work of decorative art considered as a new creation;
      conception or plan shown in completed work; as, this
      carved panel is a fine design, or of a fine design.
   5. (Mus.) The invention and conduct of the subject; the
      disposition of every part, and the general order of the
      whole.
   {Arts of design}, those into which the designing of artistic
      forms and figures enters as a principal part, as
      architecture, painting, engraving, sculpture.
   {School of design}, one in which are taught the invention and
      delineation of artistic or decorative figures, patterns,
      and the like.
   Syn: Intention; purpose; scheme; project; plan; idea.
   Usage: {Design}, {Intention}, {Purpose}. Design has reference
          to something definitely aimed at. Intention points to
          the feelings or desires with which a thing is sought.
          Purpose has reference to a settled choice or
          determination for its attainment. ``I had no design to
          injure you,'' means it was no part of my aim or
          object. ``I had no intention to injure you,'' means, I
          had no wish or desire of that kind. ``My purpose was
          directly the reverse,'' makes the case still stronger.
                Is he a prudent man . . . that lays designs only
                for a day, without any prospect to the remaining
                part of his life?                 --Tillotson.
                I wish others the same intention, and greater
                successes.                        --Sir W.
                                                  Temple.
                It is the purpose that makes strong the vow.
                                                  --Shak.
   

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].