Analysis and synthesis are underrepresented in academic and commercial literature and discussion. This lack of a formal definition means that analysis and synthesis activities, though immensely valuable to design work, are difficult to teach to students, explain to management or defend to clients.

In this session, a framework will be presented for organizing the design analysis and synthesis process, and more easily exposing the purpose of the activities and methods we use. The purpose of this framework is to equip practitioners to manage the complex arena of design research and analysis methods. The framework consists of a palette of five types of analysis and synthesis activities—organization, exploration, interpretation , framing and projection—that expose the underlying mechanics of common design analysis and synthesis methods.