HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN (HCD)
What is human-centered design (HCD)?
Human-centered design puts people at its center of the entire problem-solving and product or service design process. It focuses on identifying problems, pain-points, and challenges people face, designing solutions for those problems, and validating and refining solutions with their intended end users. HCD is empathy-driven in that it considers the real needs, desires, and feedback of end-users throughout the entire design process.
What are the four phases of human-centered design?
Human-centered design has four phases: inspiration, ideation, implementation, and validation.
What are some examples of human-centered design?
- Children’s toothbrush
- Television remote
- Bluetooth headphones
- Warby Parker
- Oxo Good Grips
- Spotify
- Venmo
- Airbnb
- Uber
Why is human-centered design needed?
HCD is needed to create products and services that solve real problems and resonate deeply with end-users.
What are the advantages of human-centered design as a problem-solving technique?
The main advantages of human-centered design as a problem-solving technique include:
- Understanding your end user well
- Designing solutions to real customer problems
- Building solutions with more confidence, given that your customer is deeply embedded in the design process
- Improving the lives of your customers while growing your business
What are the disadvantages of human-centered design as a problem-solving technique?
The main disadvantages of human-centered design as a problem-solving technique include:
- Fast paced process that can be difficult for slow-moving organizations
- Requires quick design and product iteration
- People cannot always articulate what they want and what their problems, making it difficult to identify real customer pain-points and needs