Human-centered design: real solutions for real humans
Designers and creative thinkers love problems. In fact, our brains are well trained to find them. Being able to quickly identify problems and create inspired solutions is the secret sauce for the world’s most successful brands. But the challenge is that, in some cases, we may create problems where they don't yet exist, or spend too much time producing solutions that provide little impact.
Human-centered design allows us to focus on the right problems and provide solutions that make life measurably better.
What is a strategic human centered design process?
Before any project begins we want to ensure that we're focusing on providing the right solutions to the right problems.
Get curious. Put aside your own bias and preconceptions and take time to discover and learn by immersing yourself in data insights, customer and stakeholder interviews, and surveys.
Ask questions. Empathize. What friction points, challenges or opportunities are rising to the surface in your research?
Prototype. Take your questions a step further to create low-fidelity solutions to test whether the project deserves prioritization of resources. Rapid prototyping and user-testing can allow you to improve, learn and quickly refine solutions.
Now, identify what to prioritize based on how desirable it will be for your customer or audience, how feasible it will be to execute, and how valuable or viable it is as a solution.
No matter what you’re designing—a marketing campaign, a product enhancement, or even an entirely new business—when you empathize with the real people you're designing for and put them at the center of your efforts, your results stand to make real and lasting impact.
