Human Centered Design Starter Toolkit

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Human Centered Design

STARTER KIT

chrisfinlay.com

DESIGN THE RIGHT THINGS FOR THE RIGHT PEOPLE

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Human centered design (HCD) is focused on deeply understanding people’s needs through observation, and interviewing, them in order to figure out what to make and why. Too often we think about what we can do before thinking about what we should do to help people do the things they want and need to do.""The goal of HCD is to create new value - or what people often call “innovation”. If we spend our time thinking about how to create things people will love, we will innovate.""Practicing the skills of HCD will help you create a human centered, action oriented approach to creating the best experiences you can for the people you serve.

Unlock the power of !Observation"Visualization"Collaboration"Feedback"Iteration""In order to!Clearly state your beliefs"Share your ideas"Document feedback"Guide conversations"Improve impact""And discover!What people care about"How you can deliver it"Where it fits in your work

This toolkit will help youWhat is Human Centered Design?



OVERVIEW!Too often we start with what a business can do, before we work towards the people the business exists to serve. In order to make the right things we need to first understand the people we are designing for."

1_Understand 2_Define 3_Create 4_Share 5_LearnUnderstanding people’s unmet needs is essential to creating something they need and will use. ""Go where people spend time, watch them, and ask them questions you need to start to make sense of what you have seen.

Start to define what problems you have observed, what might help solve those problems, and what solving then would do for people.

Now that you have some ideas you need to make them shareable. Words are powerful but making to think is the best way to make sure that you are properly communicating your ideas.

Once you have sketched some ideas it is important that you share them with the people who would be using them. Briefly share your sketches and ask for feedback.

Continue to refine your ideas. Choose a few and keep working them. Often, you can combine ideas to make one single one that is even more robust. ""Keep learning by testing your ideas with the people you are trying to serve until you get something that resonates with them.

Using the methods of human centered design which embraces people’s rich, complex lives is a powerful way to address the challenge. It helps you get out office and get to know the people you care about creating products and services for.

The steps in this introductory toolkit will help you identify key important challenges to address and be clear about how you want to respond to them.



UNDERSTAND!Go where people are doing things that might inform your work. That can be work, play, study, shopping, etc. Watch them, ask them questions, document through pictures and drawings, and look for patterns. "

1Who are you trying to help?

(Give ‘em a name.)"

People Objects Environments ServicesWho is important to people’s experience? What do they use to accomplish their

goals?What spaces & places impact their experience?

What services support them on their journey?



2 DEFINE "

After you have observed what people are doing, asked them about it, and identified the key aspects that impact their experience you are ready to describe their problems, what you can do about it, and why that will improve their ability to achieve their goals.

Problems Fixes ImpactWhat are their biggest problems? What should be done, based on what you know about

the people you are designing for? What do you expect the results to be?

What do people want to do? What is in their way?



example

Notes Notes Notes

What can you make to help?

Share your designs with the people who would use them, let them ask questions and give feedback. Resist the urge to defend your ideas. If they think it won’t work, ask how they might solve the challenge. Note what worked,"what didn’t, how people react, and what people suggest.

4 SHARE

3 CREATE!Draw products and services that might solve people’s problems, don’t think about cost or how it will be made yet.Think only about how you can solve this problem for people. Btw, few people think they can draw, but you only need to draw well enough to get the idea across to be successful.



What is the best version of your idea?

5LEARN!Revise the designs, show them to people again, and keep doing this until you feel like you have something of value for the people you serve. After you have done that then think about how to make it work for the company.""Solutions must first help people do the things they want to do, so they feel how they want to feel. That is the only thing that gets people to fall in love with the things you make for them. ""Sometimes you may end up with one strong idea that is made up of all the others.

Notes Notes Notes



What people want to… How you help to… Avoid Ease

Do Enable

Feel Enrich

Their Story Your Story

Putting the big idea to work

After you have gone through the process of defining what people need, creating sketches, learning, and iterating you will need to move to defining the final idea and explaining why it will work for people. This is often called a value proposition. Draw the big idea below and define its value.
