Designing for emergence is a design paradigm which doesn’t seek to address a whole set of problems, but rather allows for users to apply it to their own needs, in their own ways, through these tools.
A clear-cut example is Microsoft Excel, used either for simple calculations and for complex corporate dashboards.
Properties
Design for emergence allows users to create what its designers didn’t account for
Design for emergence allows users to integrate their own knowledge into it
Design for emergence is simple, yet allows for varied and sophisticated user implementations