Design, product development, innovation: all the same in the end? A short discussion on terminology

The spectrum of terminology to describe the professional and academic field “design” is manifold. Terms like design, engineering design, product development, and innovation are widely accepted and used. Whereas some of these terms are common in the business area, others are rather used in the engineering field. Based on the terminologies from exponents of the design science as well as other communities, the paper tries to broaden the view on what “design” means. Additionally, the paper highlights the accordance and differences between the terms design, product development and innovation, and attempts to derive implications for organising research practice in such a broader context. The paper should be seen as starting point for a wider discussion.