Design Computing refers to an area of Design Studies that deals with furthering the understanding and the practice of design activities through the application and development of novel concepts and techniques in computing.

In recent years a number of research and education areas have been grouped under the umbrella term "Design Computing", namely:

• Artificial Intelligence
  Artificial intelligence
  Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
  
   in Design
• Artificial Architecture
  Artificial Architecture
  Artificial architecture, also referred to as algorithmic architecture and algorithmic design, is the research area combining architectural design and artificial intelligence...
  
  
• Expert and Knowledge-based Systems
• Computational creativity
  Computational creativity
  Computational creativity is a multidisciplinary endeavour that is located at the intersection of the fields of artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, philosophy, and the arts.The goal of computational creativity is to model, simulate or replicate creativity using a computer, to...
  
  
• Computer-Aided Design
  Computer-aided design
  Computer-aided design , also known as computer-aided design and drafting , is the use of computer technology for the process of design and design-documentation. Computer Aided Drafting describes the process of drafting with a computer...
  
  
• Digital morphogenesis
  Digital morphogenesis
  Digital morphogenesis is a process of shape development enabled by computation. While this concept is applicable in many areas, the term "digital morphogenesis" is used primarily in architecture....
  
  
• Visual and Spatial Modelling
• Computational Analogy
• Automated Design Systems
• Design Support Systems
• Computer Supported Cooperative Work
  Computer supported cooperative work
  The term computer-supported cooperative work was first coined by Irene Greif and Paul M. Cashman in 1984, at a workshop attended by individuals interested in using technology to support people in their work. At about this same time, in 1987 Dr...
  
   (CSCW)
• Building Information Modeling
  Building Information Modeling
  Building information modeling is the process of generating and managing building data during its life cycle.BIM involves representing a design as objects – vague and undefined, generic or product-specific, solid shapes or void-space oriented , that carry their geometry, relations and attributes...
  
   (BIM)
• GenerativeComponents
  GenerativeComponents
  GenerativeComponents is parametric CAD software developed by Bentley Systems, was first introduced in 2003, became increasingly used in practice by early 2005, and was commercially released in November 2007. GenerativeComponents has a strong traditional base of users in academia and at...
  
   (Generative or Computational Design)
• Grasshopper 3D
  Grasshopper 3d
  Grasshopper™ is a visual programming language developed by David Rutten at Robert McNeel & Associates. Grasshopper runs within the Rhinoceros 3D CAD application. Grasshopper is visual programming language. Programs are created by dragging components onto a canvas. The outputs to these components...
  
   (Generative Modeling)

The main research groups working in this area span from Faculties of Architecture, Engineering and Computer Science. For the last three decades the Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition (KCDCC) at the University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

, Australia has been a pioneer in this area. In the US this research area is also known as "Design and Computation", namely at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Other relevant research groups include:

• Critical Research in Digital Architecture (CRIDA), Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne
• School of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon
• Department of Computer Science, University College London
• Department of Informatics Engineering, Universidade de Coimbra
• Department of Computer Science, Vrije University, Amsterdam
• Creativity and Cognition Studios, University of Technology Sydney
• Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado at Boulder
• Department of Architecture, Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Department of Architecture, MIT
• Department of Computer Science, Helsinki University of Technology
• College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Design Machine Group, University of Washington College of Built Environments
  University of Washington College of Built Environments
  The College of Built Environments or CBE at the University of Washington is the new name, as of January 1, 2009, of the college formerly called the College of Architecture and Urban Planning. The old name was adopted in 1957-58 when the college had only two departments, architecture and planning...
  
  , Seattle
• Design Computing Program, Georgia Institute of Technology College of Architecture
  Georgia Institute of Technology College of Architecture
  The College of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology was established in 1908 as the Department of Architecture, offering the first four-year course of study in architecture in the Southern United States.-History:...
  
  
• School of Interactive Arts + Technology, Simon Fraser University
  Simon Fraser University
  Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
  
  

The biannual International Conference on Design Computing and Cognition (DCC) brings together high quality research on this area, as do annual conferences by the Association for Computer Aided Design In Architecture and others.