Human-centred design 101

What is human-centred design

Human-centred design is a way of creating services that puts people first. It starts with understanding what people need and what they experience. This includes the people who use the service, the staff who deliver it and the partners who support it. Once those needs and challenges are understood, solutions are designed so they work well for everyone.

On its own, the word “design” can be limited to how something looks on the surface (the visuals) whereas the goal in human-centred design is to understand how services, both online and in-person, can work for people. This can include visual elements but it also goes deeper to consider the context in which users may be accessing the service.

Why this practice is important

Human-centred design supports teams in:

• Making better decisions through evidence
• Reducing risk by understanding why a problem or opportunity exists and testing ideas before building a solution
• Ensuring services are inclusive and accessible for the people who need them most
• Bringing people together to work collaboratively

Recent examples of problems and projects that have used human-centred design to deliver better public services: 

• When ImmsBC received complaints about age-based vaccination invitations, they used design research methods to understand why and improve the process for patients
• BC Parks made product feature decisions and prioritized their website development roadmap using design and research methods
• Worried that people in B.C. weren’t understanding their career and training options, the education sector brought in UX and content designers to understand the problem and build career pathways

How designers contribute to projects

At its core, human-centred design is about solving problems. It can be applied to problems of any size or difficulty.

In the B.C. government, human-centred design work typically falls into 3 main categories:

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Who uses human-centred design

Designers in the B.C. government have advanced training, skills and experience and may have formal job titles like:

• Service designer
• Content designer
• User experience (UX) researcher
• UX designer
• Innovation designer

However, the practice of human-centred design is not limited to people with these titles.

Anyone can learn to apply human-centred design thinking to their work. The best way to learn is through basic training offered through the B.C. government Learning Hub.

The key idea is in the name: human-centred. This means you design or build with the people you’re serving, every step of the way.

For example:

• A program manager co-designs a new service with community members instead of making decisions on their behalf
• A communications advisor tests 2 versions of a public notice to understand which one is more easily understood
• A policy analyst reviews complaint data and has discussions with partner groups to better inform policy changes

In these cases, people are not shifting careers. They’re applying human-centred design approaches to bring evidence and user insight into the work they already do.

Formal design roles also bring important contributions, and not all designers bring the same mix of skills.

Some designers can be “I-shaped”. This means they have deep expertise in a specific area of human-centred design. For example, a UX researcher who leads complex studies involving multiple user groups, data sources and testing methods. This kind of rigour is especially valuable on high-risk or high-impact projects.

Other designers can be “T-shaped.” This means they have depth in one human-centred design area, but combine it with a broader understanding of related skills and disciplines. For example, a content designer who also understands policy context, and uses that knowledge to shape user-centred messaging across multiple channels. T-shaped designers often help connect work across roles or departments.

Many designers shift between I- and T- shaped roles depending on project or team needs. Both types of expertise are valuable and effective design work often relies on a mix of focused depth and cross-disciplinary thinking.

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When to use human-centred design

Human-centred design can be applied to most business problems, but some problems or projects require dedicated design expertise. You should look to bring a designer onto your team when:

• The problem you’re trying to solve is complex or unclear
• You need to understand the underlying reasons for the problem
• You need to understand the needs and experiences of your users
• You’re developing a new service or product, or improving one that already exists
• You want to ensure your service or product is user-friendly and accessible

That said, human-centred design does not work well in every situation. It requires time, openness and the right conditions.

Design is most effective when applied early in the process and:

• The team has space to explore new approaches or solutions
• Leadership and team members value feedback and open conversations
• Team members, partners and leaders are committed to making time to attend meetings, workshops and research sessions
• There’s a clear path to connect with the people who use the service

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Understanding the process

Human-centred design is a flexible process that can repeat and improve over time. It’s usually adapted to suit the problem, team and context.

The main steps are:

• Alignment. Getting everyone on the same page about the current state
• Discovery. Understanding people’s needs, experiences and challenges
• Definition. Articulating the problem and context
• Ideation. Coming up with potential ideas and approaches
• Prototype. Building simple versions of the most practical ideas 
• Evaluation. Trying out the ideas with people and making improvements based on what you’ve learned

Common methods

Designers use a wide range of methods to understand, design and develop solutions. Approaches are customized based on the problem, the people involved and what stage the work is in. Some common methods include:

• Journey mapping. This involves documenting and visualizing the steps a person takes when using a service
• Service blueprinting. This includes creating a map of how a service is built, including the front and backstage actions and systems
• User interviews. This means speaking with people who use the service to understand their needs and challenges
• Field visits. This involves observing people using the service in real settings where they interact with it
• Partner workshops. This includes working with people who work on or are affected by the service to share insights and ideas. Uses methods from co-designing
• Co-designing. This means creating solutions together with users, staff and partners. Uses methods from partner workshops
• “How might we” questions. This involves reframing challenges as open questions to help spark creative ideas
• Sketching and storyboarding. This includes sketching concepts or journeys to show how a service or idea might work step-by-step
• Prototyping. This involves building simple versions of ideas, like a sketch or model, to explore how they might work in practice
• Usability testing. This involves watching people try a prototype to understand what works well and what needs to change
• Accessibility testing. This involves checking whether people with different needs and abilities can use the solution effectively

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Getting design help

Get support from leadership

Leaders can help create the conditions for impactful human-centred design work by:

• Bringing designers early in the process, before a solution is decided upon
• Making sure the team agrees on the problem they’re working on. This includes building a shared understanding and establishing roles from the get-go
• Building time for research, testing and changes
• Supporting your designer in connecting with the people who use the service, and if users are external to government, setting aside a small amount of budget for stipends or compensation
• Staying open to learning and adjusting course as new insights come up
• Creating a team culture that encourages frequent communication, collaboration and thoughtful feedback

Build a team and join the design community

There are a variety of ways to bring human-centred design into your B.C. government team:

• Reach out to your ministry’s design team, if one exists
• Hire a permanent designer for your team. The Job Store has pre-approved profiles
• Use Team with Us, part of the B.C. government’s Digital Marketplace, to procure a short-term resource

If you don’t need a full-time designer but want some advice or feedback, you can:

• Join the Human Centred-Design Community Teams channel to ask questions or share at their weekly design crits
• Email the community managers at hcd.community@gov.bc.ca