Digital Design - Shaping a Sustainable Digital Future Requires a New Holistic Design Approach

In today's digital age, businesses of all sizes face the challenge of adapting to the rapid pace of technological advancements, including new possibilities like ChatGPT, AI in general, Voice User Interfaces, and the Metaverse. In our experience, many companies still lack awareness of the need for digital transformation or are simply not ready for it. The integration of physical and digital products has led to an increase in complexity for both users and companies, necessitating a holistic design approach to encapsulate this complexity and shape a sustainable digital future. While traditional requirements engineering with solution-neutral requirements has been the norm, it is not sufficient for these new core issues. Digital design, with its emphasis on user centered design, technological possibilities, and a comprehensive understanding of the digital ecosystem, fills this gap in requirements engineering. By incorporating digital design competence in every project, companies can design sustainable digital solutions that integrate seamlessly with the user's needs and the company's goals. In this paper, we propose a new field of competence: Digital Design. Within this field we suggest a new model for Shaping, Exploring, and Implementing innovative digital products. As we discuss the steps that science and practice must take to ensure that every project incorporates digital design competence, our paper provides insights for both academia and industry.