an idea

"decorative program" is a standard Art History term for a group of works that were intended to be viewed together as a whole

Other latter-day touches are found in the decorative program of the interior, which features sculptures and paintings by well-known artists, principally from Chicago.

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/740668hwlc.html

Hagia Sophia's monumental scale and soaring domed surfaces rendered a program of figural decoration nearly impossible to execute, and thus it has been suggested that the sixth-century mosaic program featuring primarily cross and vegetal designs was planned with the building's exceptional proportions in mind. Completing the church's interior decorative program were variegated marbles gathered from across the empire. These were fashioned into floor and wall paneling, elegant columns, and finely sculpted capitals bearing the monograms of Justinian and his wife Theodora.

Source: The Byzantine State under Justinian I (Justinian the Great) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/just/hd_just.htm

V. FUNCTION OF THE WORK

Was the work part of a larger decorative program? Was it intended for public viewing or for private
study or devotion? How might the function have affected the form?

http://www2.bc.edu/~mcdonadh/course/guide.html