What is Human-Centered Design?

What is Human-Centered Design?

Human-centered design is an approach to design that begins with developing empathy for person who is affected by the problem and leads to an innovative solution that meets that person’s needs. Rather than operating from our understanding of our own perspectives, Human-Centered Design encourages us to shift our focus to the people we are problem solving with or for. It helps us dig deep into the needs and motivations of all the people involved in or facing a particular challenge. This framework helps us acknowledge that we as designers don’t necessarily have the answers needed, and that the people we are designing with have imperative knowledge, wisdom, and insight we need to gather in order to help. 

Human-centered design helps us tackle systems-level changes because it allows us to design solutions with people, not for them. We start with empathy to understand people’s needs, learn from them, and integrate multiple perspectives into everything we do. Every step of the way, the people who are facing the problem we’re trying to solve can and should be included in the process. 

This approach to work is incredibly impactful; not only does it produce better results for social innovators, but it also saves time and money all while maximizing impact. 

What can this approach be used for?

Human-centered design can be used for anything. It’s a way of looking at problems, people, and solutions in a profoundly human, equitable, and accessible way. Anything we work on that affects or involves other people (a program, a policy, a product, a service, etc.) can be looked at through the lens of human-centered design. 

We start by asking:

• • What is the problem we’re trying to solve? Is it actually the problem, or is there something deeper?

• • What is our current solution? If there isn’t one, how do people address the need that exists?

• • Who are we designing for? Who might be left out?

• • How are the people we’re designing for involved in our conversations?

• • What assumptions are we making? What are our biases?

• • What is our end-goal?

• • Who else is involved in this problem area? Are we talking to them? Are we learning from them?

Core Principles of Human-Centered Design

There are a few core principles that guide human-centered design that you should be thinking about as you work:

• • Empathy: Learning from others, understanding their perspectives and needs, and designing everything with them at the center.

• • Collaboration: How can we work with other people, organizations, and systems to learn from them and involve them in our process? How can we work together to design solutions that might impact further change? How can we create safe and equitable spaces to develop with people?

• • Experimentation: We must be okay with trying things, proposing new ideas, asking wild questions, and changing how we do things. It might not always work, but it helps us think about things differently and imagine new ways of doing things.

• • Testing Assumptions: What are our biases and assumptions? We have to be okay asking what we are assuming about a person, a problem, a solution, a system, etc. and then testing those in the world to see if they’re correct.

• • Actions: Try new things, propose new models or ways of doing things, share back with the people you’re designing for, and make sure you’re acting on the knowledge you’re gathering and building a practice of working in this way.

Mindsets of a Human-Centered Designer

• • Practice Empathy: Before I design a solution, service, or program, I must build a deep understanding of people’s needs and emotions and gain an on-the-ground understanding of barriers people may face.

• • Iterate Many Times: I must work within my organization to create a cycle of constant customer engagement, building and testing prototypes, and innovation. I must engage with the real people accessing services and understand how they are experiencing things in real-time.

• • Learn from failure: I must learn from failure and use opportunities to experiment and grow from mistakes.

• • Embrace Ambiguity: I don’t know the answers to the problems, but I am opening myself up to learn from others and arrive at unexpected solutions.

• • Identify Biases and Assumptions: I have biases and assumptions that impact how I work; I must spend time understanding these and reflecting on them. I must also learn from diverse perspectives and find answers to things I do not know.

• • Just Do It: An idea doesn’t have to be perfect, but it must be shared widely and tested to be improved. I will frequently test things I am thinking about and get feedback to change and adapt.

• • Collaborate Often: I must bring in many people with diverse backgrounds and experiences to truly understand a problem and get to a solution.

The Social Impact Lab Alberta uses human-centered design in our Community Co-Design approach to ensure that we are empowering communities to solve their own problems instead of deciding on solutions on their behalf. Check out our Community Co-Design Playbook to learn about one way to apply the principles of design thinking and human-centered design in your community.

If you are interested in learning more, check out our Inspire Course.