The current design landscape is criticized for being predictable and insincere, prompting a need for deeper questions and a more meaningful approach. Liminal Design offers a way to infuse design with existential relevance and aliveness by embracing ambiguity. Transactional design prioritizes efficiency and predictability, offering simple, pre-determined outcomes. In contrast, liminal design thrives on profound, meaningful surprise and intentionally holds open questions rather than providing immediate solutions. This concept draws from anthropological notions of a threshold state where new insights can emerge.Drawing parallels with aesthetics, the author distinguishes beauty, which offers restful contemplation, from the sublime, which agitates the mind by exceeding its limits, evoking both pleasure and pain. Great stories and designs, according to Aristotle, achieve this by being both inevitable and surprising, revealing that things are not always as they seem. This paradox is akin to the feeling of awe, which involves conflicting emotions and a reevaluation of one's place in the world. Experiencing awe forces individuals to confront their limits and adapt their viewpoints, leading to transformative change.Liminal design, like fiction, involves a willing suspension of disbelief, allowing participants to engage deeply with experiences that are not literally true. The designer creates about fifty percent of the experience, leaving the other fifty for the audience to complete, fostering personal connection and ongoing engagement. A liminal design is like a door left ajar, inviting continued exploration, unlike transactional designs that fully close off possibilities. The author outlines a three-step process for creating liminal experiences: establishing narrative desire, employing optimized abstraction through subtraction, and maintaining suspension of disbelief via clear thresholds and rituals.Ultimately, liminal design elevates designers beyond mere task execution to creators of rich, memorable experiences, akin to serious art. This approach requires sincerity, as participants must feel safe and believe the design's aim is genuine. The corporate world, driven by control and predictability, struggles to embrace the profound surprise inherent in liminal design, as its underlying goals often conflict with such an approach.