What do we know about the process of designing instruction? We have a large body of literature and numerous prescriptive models, yet it is not clear that designers actually operate as the literature and models suggest. Other design fields, such as architecture and engineering, have similar concerns, but have acted upon those concerns by systematically investigating design processes. Considering the results of such studies may prove beneficial to instructional designers in terms of promoting critical analysis of processes and decisions and identifying questions and hypotheses for research. In this article, results from numerous studies of design are synthesized to provide a basis for considering instructional design as a type of designing rather than an isolated phenomenon.