The letters, I DeSIGN, and the words they represent have been chosen to make the seven ways of thinking during design easy to remember and recall. They refer to fundamental ways of thinking that have more formal names and definitions. I and intending refer to Intentional Thinking which is concerned with how we direct our thoughts to accomplish a purpose or goal. Intentional thinking exists until a goal is reached or is dismissed as no longer of concern. It is closely identified with the individual thinker and what they want or need. D and Defining refer to Referential Thinking which is concerned with how we refer to what we perceive, recognize or know. By recognizing, identifying, describing and categorizing things we are able to refer to them using symbols, words, images and even gestures. Referential thinking is concerned with what language elements refer to and mean. e and Exploring refer to Relational Thinking which is concerned with how we organize and analyse the things we refer to. All forms of association are involved: analogies, metaphors, logical relationships, conceptual models, networks and organizing structures such as heirarchies, compositions and arrangements. Because there are many ways things can be related, this mode of thinking requires both imagination and the ability to identify which relationships are relevant to an intention toward a situation. S and Suggesting refer to Formative Thinking which is concerned with how things and situations are perceived, expressed and interpreted. Everyone interprets things in terms of their intentions, the situation they are considering and what they already know that is relevant to the situation. Formative Thinking is focal because it is how people understand the circumstances they are in, what they want to do regarding them and how they communicate their interpretations or plan of action to others. i and Innovation refer to Procedural Thinking which is concerned with the sequencing and timing of actions and events, and how they can be executed to improve a situation or performance. The word innovation indicates a change in what went before and points to the process by which that change takes place. G and Goalgetting refer to Evaluative Thinking which is concerned with determining whether an intended goal has been reached and providing correctivee feedback to the process of innovation until it is. Evaluative Thinking is concerned with determining the difference between the outcome of a process and its goal. N and Knowing refer to Reflective Thinking which is concerned with learning by looking back on an experience and remembering what is novel and useful about it. Reflective Thinking also is concerned with how memory informs formative thinking. The letter and word labels of the I DeSIGN model offer easy ways to remember the different modes of thinking described above, but other names for the fundamental ways of thinking will sometimes be used.