5 Ways Human-Centered Design Can Improve Your Work

This post by Blair Corcoran de Castillo originally appeared on GovLoop on August 19, 2015.

You have probably heard the concept of human-centered design (HCD) thrown around, but you may be wondering what it’s all about. If you’re like me, you’ve probably searched for ‘human-centered design’ on the internet to learn more. In doing so, you were most likely confronted with a number of results that link to different HCD models. While this may seem confusing, it shouldn’t be. To a large degree, all of these models are similar, but may use different terms and have varying levels of rigor when applying the methodology.

At its heart, HCD is about creating new solutions that address the root causes of problems by deeply understanding the people affected by the problem. This means that the development of new ideas is grounded in an understanding of the needs, behaviors and context of the people who will interact with the final product, service or policy. How is this done? Well, embedded within the discipline are a number of methods that help you engage with people on a deeper level and assist in making sense of what you see, hear, experience and learn as a result of your interaction with people. In addition, the methodology contains tools that support the building of ideas visually, so that they can be tested with or used as a starting point to co-create with the people for whom you are designing. In fact, depending on the issue you’re setting out to tackle, you can use a variety of methods.

Instead of focusing the rest of this blog post on what human-centered design is, I’d like to focus on why you should learn more about it. You may have heard of how HCD has led to successes for companies in the private sector, like GE and Procter and Gamble, but I think it can bring success to our work as well. 

Head to GovLoop and learn five ways human-centered design can improve the way you work in the public sector.