Design processes and designed artifacts are perceived as instances of argumentation in this article. A design process is defined as a process of deliberation about what to do when seeking to design artifacts that aim to be persuasive about how we are to lead our lives. The intention of employing the argumentative perspective is to demonstrate how rhetorical theory, on discovery and amplification of arguments, may lend support to designers in two ways. One way is for the purpose of exploring abundant ways of designing design methods and processes. Another way is to support designers in discovering persuasive arguments about their choices. The article provides examples of how such a rhetorical design process may be carried out in practice.

This article introduces knowledge of the rhetorical genre of epideictic to design. The aim is to provide designers with concepts that stimulate their ability to deliberate about design choices and explore the arguments they may be making about the human-made world. The article begins with explorations of how to perceive the situations that designers may address, then rhetorical perspectives that may be useful when creating design arguments, and finally examples of how to use these rhetorical perspectives in design. Based on analyzed examples and theories on design problems, situational perspectives, and rhetorical genres, the article concludes that designers can benefit from perceiving their design as value celebration rather than problem solving.