Design is often characterized as an act of problem-solving. This is a perspective that, while pervasive, risks reducing complex socio-technical conditions to easily fixable issues. This paper critiques the ideology of "design as problem-solving", highlighting its culmination in technological solutionism, where societal and human challenges are reframed as technical problems awaiting technical answers. Drawing on critiques and the recognition of "wicked problems", we argue that design must also be understood as a process of problem-framing, emphasizing the interpretive work involved in defining what counts as a problem and why. To advance this analytical perspective, we propose applying the What's the Problem Represented to be? (WPR) approach from critical policy studies to design and technology. By treating artifacts as materialized problem representations, WPR allows for the systematic unpacking of the ideological, cultural, and political assumptions encoded in technological forms. This analytical lens can reveal hidden problematisations within artifacts, foster reflexive design practice, and empirically challenge techno-solutionism. Ultimately, integrating WPR into design research enriches both design theory and philosophy of technology by offering a method to interrogate how technologies shape, and are shaped by, the questions they claim to answer.

翻译：设计常被描述为解决问题的行为。这种观点虽普遍存在，却可能将复杂的社会技术条件简化为易于修补的议题。本文批判了"设计即问题解决"的意识形态，揭示其最终导向技术解决方案主义——即将社会与人类挑战重新定义为等待技术答案的技术问题。借鉴对"棘手问题"的批判与认知，我们认为设计必须同时被理解为问题建构的过程，强调界定何为问题及其缘由所涉及的阐释性工作。为推进这一分析视角，我们提出将批判政策研究中的"问题表征分析法"应用于设计与技术领域。通过将技术制品视为物化的问题表征，WPR方法能够系统解构技术形式中编码的意识形态、文化与政治假设。这种分析视角可以揭示技术制品中隐藏的问题化逻辑，促进反思性设计实践，并从经验层面挑战技术解决方案主义。最终，将WPR整合进设计研究，通过提供审视技术如何塑造并受其声称要回答的问题所塑造的方法，丰富了设计理论与技术哲学。