What, actually, is human-centered design?
At Little Fish, we specialize in using human-centered design (HCD) to improve people's lives. Fun fact: HCD works! Our violence prevention project, Becoming One, is living proof that using HCD powers a project to go from idea to scale (read our case study here).
So what is HCD?
There are multiple definitions and explanations of HCD that you can find online - sometimes, it's described as a process, a technique, a combination of disciplines, or something else.
At Little Fish, we distill HCD down to this:
HCD is an approach to solving problems that encompasses the adoption and practice of a specific heart, mindset, and skillset.
The heart
At the heart of HCD is the belief that people with lived experience are experts of their own lives, that their preferences and opinions matter, and that they should influence the solutions that will impact them.
Sometimes, this heart can be left out because of competing priorities and perspectives. For example, when there are limited resources and looming deadlines in a project, involving lived experiences can feel like a nice-to-have that will only use up resources and time. Another example is when there is a lot of confidence in the assumptions about what people need and want, then it can seem like repetitive work or "too many stakeholders" to include those with lived experience.
We will touch on why including lived experience matters in a future blog!
The mindset
The mindset of HCD is held in the qualities that come from having both humility and confidence, as opposing as they seem.
Humility is having an attitude that it's "not about me". It means that we aren't designing for ourselves, so we need to let go of our own preferences, desires, or assumptions. Sometimes we think that empathy means walking a mile in someone else's shoes, saying "if I was in his/her position, I'd want…" But in HCD, practicing empathy requires us to recognize that we aren't their shoes, because we have our own backgrounds and experiences that shape our worldview. Instead, we talk less and listen more to someone else share what it's really like to be who they are, from their worldview. This is surprisingly hard to do, even for experienced designers, when we're worried about our reputations, opinions, careers, or other priorities that make it tempting to center ourselves. That's why true design can be so radical, because we don’t put ourselves first.
Now let's balance humility with confidence. HCD is all about trying and testing new ideas - and this requires confidence. Designers need confidence to say: maybe we'll look silly, or the idea won't work, or we'll face rejection -- but let's try it anyway. And if it doesn't work, we'll try something else. Where does this confidence come from? It comes from practicing the core design activities at work and in life - namely 1) trying, 2) seeing what happens, 3) learning, and 4) applying. It's the confidence of a life-long learner.
The skillset
Last but not least, HCD encompasses a set of thinking and doing skills.
On a macro level, we can look at the Stanford d. school core abilities. The school for human-centered design has recently exchanged their training from the design process to a set of core abilities. These include the abilities to:
Navigate ambiguity
Learn from others (people and contexts)
Synthesize information
Experiment rapidly
Move between concrete and abstract
Build and craft intentionally
Communicate deliberately
Design your design work
On a micro level, HCD skills include:
How to help people feel safe and empowered to share what they truly think and feel
How to understand people beyond what they say and do, to who they are and what they need and value
How to structure our understanding to make it clear and meaningful
How to translate insights into tangible and visible ideas
How to test those ideas in ways that show whether they truly work
How to understand what works and doesn't work, and why
And many more!
Application
HCD is design done intentionally - intentionally centering the people who will be impacted. By adopting the heart, embracing the mindset, and practicing the skillset, anyone can bring HCD into their work and their lives.
For individuals:
Check if you align with the heart of HCD. Sometimes it's easier to agree with the heart in one context (eg. I always center customers) than in other context (eg. I like things my way at home). Reflect on why that may be.
Practice the mindsets of humility and confidence as you go about your day. Not only do they make you a better designer, they make you a better human.
Notice opportunities at home or at work to practice HCD and go forth! (Hint: Opportunities are often problems that people put up with, but would add so much value if it was fixed.) They can look like:
Designing your laundry room to make it easier and more motivating for your family to get laundry done
Designing your living room to make it a cozier place for the family to gather
Designing a project management tool to keep everyone on track
Designing a folder structure to help your team find files more quickly
For organizations:
Align the values of the organization, the leadership, and the people to the heart of HCD. Reflect on where and why there may be tension around accepting the heart of HCD.
Practice the mindset HCD with each other and with your customers, clients, or communities.
Find opportunities to practice the HCD skillsets to solve organizational problems, such as:
Designing a more trusting organization culture
Designing a solution to unclog a bottleneck in the customer support process
Designing a new service to respond to an environment change (ie. heat wave, recession, emergency)
Assess if you need additional support from an HCD expert. The experts are particularly good at practicing HCD in complex projects that are sensitive, ambiguous, seemingly insurmountable, chaotic, or involve a lot of people.
When it starts to feel overwhelming - that's a sign!
Better yet, if you're expecting the project to be a big hairy one, bring in the expert from the beginning.
Like what we’re sharing? Sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss the next one!