Systems-oriented design (S.O.D.) uses system thinking in order to capture the complexity of systems addressed in design practice. The main mission of S.O.D. is to build the designers' own interpretation and implementation of systems thinking. S.O.D. aims at enabling systems thinking to fully benefit from design thinking and practice, and design thinking and practice to fully benefit from systems thinking. S.O.D. addresses design for human activity systems, and can be applied to any kind of design problem ranging from product design and interaction design, through architecture to decision making processes and policy design. Background Design is getting more and more complex for a number of reasons, for example due to globalization, need for sustainability, and the introduction of new technology and increased use of automation. Many of the challenges designers meet today can be considered wicked problems. The characteristics of a wicked problem include among others that there are no definitive formulation of the problem and that the solutions are never true-or-false, but rather better or worse. A traditional problem solving approach is not sufficient in addressing for such design problems. S.O.D. is an approach that addresses the challenges the designer faces when working with complex systems and wicked problems, providing tools and techniques which makes it easier for the designer to grasp the complexity of the problem at hand. With a systems-oriented approach towards design, the designer acknowledges that the starting point for the design process is constantly moving, and that "every implemented solution is consequential. It leaves "traces" that cannot be undone." (see Rittel and Webber's 5th property of wicked problems). Designers are well suited to work with complexity and wicked problems for a number of reasons: They are trained and experienced in creative thinking and idea generation; They know how to synthesize solutions from complex and fuzzy material; Designers have an ability to visualize, which is an enormous advantage for understanding and communicating complexity. S.O.D. emphasizes these abilities as central and seeks to further train the designer in systems thinking and systems practice as a skill and an art. Origins Systems-oriented design builds on systems theory and systems thinking in order to develop practices for addressing complexity in design. Particularly influential is soft systems methodology (SSM), acknowledging conflicting worldviews and people's purposeful actions, and a systems view on creativity. However, S.O.D. is inspired by critical systems thinking and approaches systems theories in an eclectic way transforming the