Many problems are left unresolved because they are design problems misidentified and approached as engineering problems.

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To conceive a situation as a design problem means to approach the situation with the intention of improving it, by acting into the situation with some kind of system that does something for someone.

Breaking the problem down into component parts:

1. A design improves a situation, which means it requires some clarity on what constitutes an improvement. In other words, design is guided by some kind of ideal.
2. A design acts into a situation, which means design fits into a larger context and becomes a constituent part of it.
3. A design is a system, which means it is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole.
4. A design does something, which means it performs specific functions.
5. A design is intended for someone, which means the design successful to the degree that it is valuable to people for which it is intended.

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Engineering problems are embedded within design problems, as point three and four: a system that does something. To isolate this part of the problem from the context of the situation and to suspend the consideration of the people for whom the system is intended is to define an engineering problem.

This makes the problem as it is defined easier to solve. But this comes at the cost of solutions that fit into situations and actually improve them significantly, despite the fact that they meet all defined requirements.