I just about always defer to ICSID’s old definition:
“Industrial design is a creative activity whose aim is to determine the formal qualities of objects produced in industry. These formal qualities are not only the external features but are principally those structural and functional relationships which convert a system to a coherent unity both from the point of view of the producer and the user. Industrial design extends to embrace all the aspects of human environment which are conditioned by industrial production.”
and emphasize the aesthetic, structural and functional relationships to convert a system to a coherent unity.
It is, to me, a real travesty that ICSID has over the years diluted their previously eloquent and accurate words into a multiple paragraph long read to make sure to include every possible subgenre, inclusionary, diverse and sustainable design jargon. ICSID’s definition now is both unreadable and understandable only to PhD semioticians.