Every stage of the human-centered design (HCD) process, requires the principles of Communications.
In this previous piece, I broke down what HCD is. Think of it as a blend of innovation, co-creation and people. Its 5 stages are empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test. I like to add an honorary 6th– implement. The beauty of this approach to problem-solving, especially in the social impact sector, is its iterative nature. It is not a series of steps you just check off a list. Human-centered design demands creativity and flexibility, and that’s why I believe that contemporary Communications principles are what make it all come together like glue.
For nonprofit organizations looking to infuse HCD in their work, here are 4 ways that Communications principles can unlock depth in qualitative data-gathering and developing strong ties with your program partners.
1. Act Like It’s the First Date: What happens when you go on a first date? It is an opportunity to get to know the other person so, you ask questions. The secret to a great first date is that you show genuine interestin the other person, you do not make assumptions and most importantly, you ask the right questions. In the same way, HCD requires that you build empathy as the first step but you can only do that when you try to see things from someone else’s perspective and have them show you how they feel or are impacted by a specific challenge.
Too often, change makers, are more obsessed with getting the right answers than asking the right questions. Just like on a first date, people will tell you what they perceive that you want to hear if you come into the room with preconceived notions or seem uninterested in what they have to say. Therefore, each time you meet with your stakeholders ask questions that challenge stereotypes, encourage introspection and even confront your own bias.
2. Pass the Microphone: Imagine that you are giving a presentation with a colleague. You both decide that you will speak on the portions you contributed to the slides but when the moment comes, your colleague just powers through and presents your portion as well. He does a good job at it and everyone is praising you both. Even though the presentation went really well, I bet that you won’t be able to shake the feeling that he stole your voice.
Until about a year ago, I used to talk about sharing the stories of other people with my skills and platform. As laudable as that is, someone made me realize that it is more powerful when you empower people to tell their own stories, throughout the HCD process. Don’t get me wrong: there’s absolutely nothing wrong with sharing the stories of others and neither am I saying that sharing other people’s stories is tantamount to stealing their voices. However, you will also agree with me that there is beauty in hearing a story in the voice of the person it happened to. It is more powerful and its effect is more lasting, not to mention that the person can take agency for their own victory. It also means that you are treating all your stakeholders as equals. So, in your co-creation journey, one of the questions you should be exploring with your stakeholders is how you can support them in sharing their stories of the problem, the solution being created and its success, while using the resources at their disposal. It is important to let the people who are most affected by an issue take the lead in creating their own solutions. Out with the savior complex!
3. Mind Your Language: One of my all-time favorite shows is ‘Mind Your Language’ that ran from the 70s to the mid 80s. It follows the hilarious antics of immigrants in an adult education college as they try to learn the English Language in the UK. Oh the frustration they put their teacher through! The same way their teacher, Mr. Jeremy Brown would gently chide them when they made outrageous grammatical errors is the same way I will encourage you to be more mindful of your language. A core principle of Communications, especially in the development space is to ensure that we center dignity because language (how we speak) is both a product of how we think and an influence on how we think. No, there is no typo there. Our manner of speaking as a society is a reflection of our collective values and thoughts. Similarly, the way we collectively speak affects how we think about certain concepts. Language is always evolving and while we live in age of cancel culture, what I am driving at is that you use language that the people you are talking about feel comfortable with. In 2022, I worked on a project focused on improving the mental health of people with disabilities. The two focal areas (mental health and disability) were issues that had always drawn a lot of misrepresentation so we had to take extra care in our speech, mannerisms, reports and social media posts to preserve the dignity of our partners. This principle goes for everyone you are working with but even more so, the underserved.
4. Create a Love Story Between Numbers and Words: For too long, we have treated storytelling and data as star-crossed lovers. However, they can actually have a happy-ending and produce results of increased impact.
As free-flowing as human-centered design may seem, it still thrives on data but they do not have to be presented in boring ways. Contextualize the data. Humanize them through the stories you have gathered in your interactions with your stakeholders by explaining why the numbers appear as they do. Let the numbers tell a story in your documentaries and infographics. This means that beyond capturing the what, you must also ask why the numbers exist, their implication, why they are not different and why more people are not aware them (if that is the case). Remember that even your stories are data, they are just qualitative. Note of advice: remember to always check your bias in the data-gathering process. Keep in mind that your bias may influence the data you pay attention to so ensure that your driving force is the true need of the people you are solving for.
Which of these 4 do you currently implement? How can you do better?
