Inside Out of Test Design: When each disguises each other - Test, Design, and Techniques -- Part 1

I have been and continuing to be mesmerized about the Design Patterns in programming space. While I'm continuing to look at the Design Pattern, I ask myself is there anything similar in the 'software testing' space? If software programming and software testing are subset of a super set, the engineering, then design pattern and test design are to each other. That is, the both exist to support each other well enough in the context. Isn't it?  This is the question among lot other which runs in me when I think about Test Design.

Further, I go into my thoughts (of today) for letting know myself what I understand for 'test', 'design' and 'techniques', I hear below from me.

• test -- An experiment which is an open ended and whose outcome is unknown.
• design --  The set of ideas which says how to (I) use it or how to go about; and how I see it further to use it by learning. How simple it is to use for me, those are the attributes of design with the learnability in context being prominent.  In other ways, it comprises of pattern as soon as I say, 'design'.  Each design has a pattern isn't it?
• technique --  applying; i.e. a skill being applied to study, observe and evaluate a subject of interest further.

While I'm learning this, do I see a familiarity or the familiarities in these three above said?  May be this familiarity or these familiarities, it disguises each other while they are distinct and co-exist mutually in practicality of Software Testing practice.

Why one cannot see the differences or draw the differences between these other is, a simple fact. Yes, the fact, which is not studied quite often; hence it is a fact.  The unquestioned fact is, all three of these are heuristics - which helps in discovering, learning and solving, while it can fail as well.

A test does not help one to learn, discover and solve? But how a test can fail? Test never fails, it provides the information and I tag the label of true positive or false positive to the outcome of it. Likewise, is the design and technique, it helps in discovering, learning and solving; and as well it can fail too. But how do I see the 'fail' in case of design and technique is -- it did not meet the purpose or serve the purpose. Because out of the design and technique, I expect the discrete value which is of usabale, reusable and valuable. Whereas for a test, I see the information is an outcome from the execution of it (or out of not execution as well; not testing is as well a useful test in a context).  This is where the disguising appears by each others to each other.