An introduction to and breakdown of HCD & Design Thinking with a reconciliation of the two methodologies as well as a note about the terms human versus user-centered design
overlays design thinking to ensure that the products are actually relevant and beneficial— in the long run — for the people they are intended to serve.
C O V E R T O D A Y What does design thinking entail? What does a human Centered Design Approach look like? Can design thinking and a HCD approach live together? 01 02 03
recognize patterns, to construct ideas that have emotional meaning as well as functionality, to express ourselves in media other than words or symbols. “ — Tim Brown, Change by Design
redefine problems to seek solutions that may not have been seen • An iterative process that understands and empathizes with the user • A process that challenges and tests the assumptions product or service managers/designers may have • A non-linear process
problems by putting the human perspective into all parts of the problem solving process • An “approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibility of technology, and the requirements for business success” — Tim Brown
— it focuses on innovation and creating products or services that solve problems • Human centered design looks at the details — it is a way of improving the usability and the user experience of a particular product or service
possible solutions • Generating a large quantity of diverse possible solutions, allowing you to step beyond the obvious and explore a range of ideas # T H I R D
can interact with • Transforming your ideas into a physical form to experience, interact and then take them to testing • Prototypes can vary in fidelity from sketched paper prototypes to high fidelity coded prototypes # F O U R T H
through the steps multiple times, and also within a step • As you take multiple cycles through the design process your scope narrows # R I N S E A N D R E P E A T
humans. (For the purposes of this presentation, I chose to use the term Human Centered design rather than user-centered design because I wanted to keep it general and broad. But if we were considering a specific target audience, then I would’ve called it UCD.)