The 2016 Faraday Discussion on the topic “Designing New Heterogeneous Catalysts” brought together a group of scientists and engineers to address forefront topics in catalysis and the challenge of catalyst design—which is daunting because of the intrinsic non-uniformity of the surfaces of catalytic materials. “Catalyst design” has taken on a pragmatic meaning which implies the discovery of new and better catalysts on the basis of fundamental understanding of the catalyst structure and performance. The presentations and discussion at the meeting illustrate the rapid progress in this understanding linked with improvements in spectroscopy, microscopy, theory, and catalyst performance testing. The following text includes a statement of recurrent themes in the discussion and examples of forefront science that evidences progress toward catalyst design.