Beneficially Relating Elements

What is software design? I'm not a fan of starting with definitions, but we're hardly starting by now. You've seen examples of what I mean by design. You've seen how individual decisions chain together to achieve larger goals. You've seen the first glimpses of what I mean by "software design is an exercise in human relationships". Now I can say what I mean by "software design":

Beneficially relating elements

That's not many words for a big concept. Each word must be carrying substantial weight. Let's pick them apart & then put them back together.