Horst Rittel
Horst Willhelm Jakob Rittel (14 July 1930 – 9 July 1990) was a design theorist and university professor. He is best known for coining the term wicked problem, but his influence on design theory and practice was much wider.
His field of work is the Science of Design, or, as it also known, the area of Design Theories and Methods (DTM), with the understanding that activities like planning, engineering, policy making are included as particular forms of design.
In response to the perceived failures of early attempts at systematic design, he introduced the concept of 'second generation design methods' and a planning/design method known as Issue-Based Information System (IBIS) for handling wicked problems.
Early career
Rittel was born in Berlin. From 1958 to 1963, he was Professor of Design Methodology at the Ulm School of Design in Germany (Hochschule für Gestaltung - HfG Ulm).
Later career
1963 — 1990 Professor of the Science of Design at the University of California, Berkeley, College for Environmental Design, Department of Architecture and Department of City and Regional Planning
