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When solving problems, it is dangerously easy to forget who the solution is for. Leaders and teams alike can become hyper focused on an outcome rather than maximizing its positive impact. Human-centered design (HCD) prevents this pitfall as a “problem-solving technique that puts real people at the center of the development process, enabling you to create products and services that resonate and are tailored to your audience’s needs.”(Harvard Business School) It puts the user at the heart of your operation, and is pivotal to a solution’s success. In this edition of Working Visually, we highlight key aspects of HCD and why they are crucial to delivering progress, no matter the challenge or setting.
“New programs are often developed by experts who don’t always speak with the people the programs are designed for...If you’ve ever spent much time at the DMV, you get the idea.” (Bloomberg Cities)
True understanding of the human problem landscape begins with empathy for the stakeholders and affected parties. Humans create each team, experience every struggle and are the end users of every solution we create at Throughline. That is why the people—their experiences, inputs and feedback—are prioritized throughout our process. We do this from the start through:
Involving stakeholders in the mapping of a problem landscape not only helps build a better solution, but it also generates buy in, awareness and collaboration which greatly increase the solution’s impact once deployed.
Design iteration brings powerful results. So, do it again designer! (Interaction Design Foundation)
HCD is a collaborative process that drives communication and context throughout the problem-solving journey. This collaboration does not stop after the problem set is identified. At Throughline, we maintain a consistent rhythm of touchpoints and feedback loops that allow clients the chance to validate and improve their solution before it is finalized. This rhythm is tailored to each project’s needs by using some of the following methods:
This co-creation method enables more efficient solution development while maximizing an organization’s internal understanding and communication of the solution itself. Teams build awareness of the problem-solving process, leading to a more receptive audience once a road ahead is finalized. This alignment is simply not possible if solutions are developed in isolation.
With the problem landscape defined, stakeholder perspectives considered and iterations ongoing, prototyping is the next step to deliver impact to the people who need it. Design teams maintain the agility to recognize areas of improvement and build on the existing co-creation cycle with clients to develop everything from minimum viable products through to high-fidelity, user-tested solutions.
At Throughline, the refinement of solutions never truly ends. After solution roll out and audience adoption, we continuously seek to increase impact, infuse accessibility and adjust to shifting environments.
“It’s a process that starts with the people you’re designing with and ends with new solutions that are purpose-built to suit their needs.” (IDEO)
Human-centered design is borne out of the recognition that the race for solutions often overtakes the importance of the people who need them. While problem sets and customers may vary, the key elements of HCD highlighted here are infused into everything we do at Throughline and can be adopted into your current workflows too.
Need an extra set of hands to keep people at the center of your problem-solving efforts? Reach out! We can’t wait to design lasting impact where it matters most.
‘Til next time,
The Throughline team