This is a personal report on the thesis or dissertation project of a trained designer at a university in Germany (where a PhD thesis is called a dissertation). Germany is known for its long tradition in design, and design research has a long tradition there as well, one prominent example being the work of Horst Rittel, who was also a teacher at the HfG Ulm. (e. g. Rittel 1972, see Rith & Dubberly 2007).