The only commonality of all design is that it has intent. You can take any man-made-conception, and create a design for it, as long as it had intention.  Marketing can be designed, but no one calls it Marketing Design because we don’t like to think of it as design. They lust for cash \m/($_$)\m/ and we’re above that right? The intent though, is for them to spread the word with the hopes of $$$$~~~~. They’re in cahoots with Advertising who are much closer to the world of what’s traditionally labeled as “design”. However you feel, it’s all design, and they all must have intent, good or bad.

This leads to my categorization of the three orders of design

First order of design is the intention of the thing itself
Second order of design is the intention of human actions (some call it “behavior” but that’s being ingenuous to the power of design)
Third order of design is the cyclic loop of intention of designing of the intention (think of it as “philosophy design”)

Some examples from the first order to the second order is below:

First order (park design, interior design, design of families)
–>
Second Order (Communitycation Design)

First order (product manufacturing design, electronics design, object design)
–>
Second Order (Production Design)

First order (poster design, commercial design, marketing design)
–>
Second Order (Communication Design)

First order (kitchen gadget design, shovels and tool design, art supply design)
–>
Second Order (Conversion Design)

and so on.

If your intent is to communicate, interact, convert, produce, and you are designing a method to do that, then the success of your design is only good as your predefined intent. Does your first order of design successfully complete your second order of design? If we take the idea of intent further and design the concept of the action themselves, that’s when really intersting stuff starts to happen. You’re not designing the communication itself, but you’re designing the intent to communicate. The higher order of magnitude that you must approach it is at a philosophical, spiritual, ethical level. What is your intention of communication itself? Perhaps your evolutionary need to ensure success for generations you’ll never meet. Perhaps it’s for the preservation of the species.

Even something like “intention”, which is still a human-made construct, can be designed at the third-order. “Intent” is just another concept, “intention design” is possible. How do you design someone’s intent? Something along the same vein is “Motivation design”. A humongous industry with tons of how-to books already. It’s next to the Resources and Sex section of your local bookstore. Maybe T. Robbins can give some insight.

I’m not sure what the fourth-order is yet. Perhaps conception itself. “Conception design” might help us if our intent was to design the defintion of existence. (PS not to be confused with the ridiculous naming by an industry which makes futuristic-imaginary pictures who labeled themselves as “Concept Designers”, a silly notion as there is nothing conceptual about their work.)