The drive to develop expert systems is forcing would-be developers to examine and make explicit the mental processes which experts use. Much of what an expert actually does is carried out intuitively and without any conscious thought. The procedures and mental processes used in civil engineering design involve a ‘creative phase’, where the design first takes shape and then ‘evolves’, and a ‘checking phase’ to ensure that it will be satisfactory. Experience and judgement play large roles in both phases. In this paper, the role of experience and how it is gained are examined. Defining experience is important not only for expert systems designers but also for the education and training of future design engineers.