To advocate for interior design means to support, champion, and commend the profession to people, organizations, and legislators. It also means knowing how to communicate what interior designers do to various stakeholders. Public perception influences your practice in many ways, including your legal standing as a professional at both the state and national levels, access to resources, salaries, and the way you are treated by clients and colleagues alike.

An interior designer is a professional who combines artistic flair with scientific understanding to create functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces within a building. They go beyond mere decoration, applying creative and technical solutions that consider the occupants' well-being, cultural context, and environmental sustainability, following a systematic process to meet the client's needs and adhere to regulatory requirements.

Any code-impacted interior environment requires Commercial Interior Design. This includes all public and corporate spaces such as civic buildings, offices, and hospitality, retail, and entertainment spaces—essentially, anything that isn’t a private residential interior. Interior design encompasses the analysis, planning, design, documentation, and management of interior non-structural/non-seismic construction and alteration projects in compliance with applicable building design and construction, fire, life-safety, and energy codes, standards, regulations, and guidelines for the purpose of obtaining a building permit, as allowed by law. Qualified by means of education, experience, and examination, interior designers have a moral and ethical responsibility to protect consumers and occupants through the design of code-compliant, accessible, and inclusive interior environments that address well-being, while considering the complex physical, mental, and emotional needs of people.

Interior Design regulation at the state level helps establish and maintain professional standards that protect the health, safety and welfare of the general public. IIDA firmly believes that legal recognition, achieved through registration or certification, brings uniformity to the profession, defines responsibility of an interior designer, and encourages excellence in the Interior Design industry.