Human-centered design is a process as fluid as the humans on which it is centered. But it is also a methodology that is simple enough to lend itself to a flow chart. Matchboxology have distilled their human-centered design process for global development technologies into five phases, each of which begins with the letter “E.”
This article again exposes us to the central dilemma. As practitionars, we have those who develop communities and those who develop economies. Community Development arises from a completely different worldview than does Economic Development.
The former is driven by the needs of people. The latter by the wants others would impose upon society. Marketing seeks to take wants and turn them into needs. This is Econ101. Wants are turned into societally endorsed personal needs. Inevitablly they can be identified by examining their genesis and seeing where they have not followed methodologies exemplified by the 5 E’s described here. The potential Achille’s Heel in this methodology, given that it inevitably is implemented in a world dominated by the ‘Want-centric’ worldviews, lies in its very first step at the point where data available leads to the “alignment of [the project’s] definition of success” . If external funding sources are sought after having defined the project in this way, in most instances one can expect the project to have set itself up for failure through the barely perceived but significant pressures to describe success in terms of Economic Development rather than thaose of Community Development. Good business rather than good living.
Human-centered design is a maturing movement with real-world evidence to back its theories. Its successes have been so conclusive that the broader design community worldwide has adopted many...
This article again exposes us to the central dilemma. As practitionars, we have those who develop communities and those who develop economies. Community Development arises from a completely different worldview than does Economic Development.
The former is driven by the needs of people. The latter by the wants others would impose upon society. Marketing seeks to take wants and turn them into needs. This is Econ101. Wants are turned into societally endorsed personal needs. Inevitablly they can be identified by examining their genesis and seeing where they have not followed methodologies exemplified by the 5 E’s described here. The potential Achille’s Heel in this methodology, given that it inevitably is implemented in a world dominated by the ‘Want-centric’ worldviews, lies in its very first step at the point where data available leads to the “alignment of [the project’s] definition of success” . If external funding sources are sought after having defined the project in this way, in most instances one can expect the project to have set itself up for failure through the barely perceived but significant pressures to describe success in terms of Economic Development rather than thaose of Community Development. Good business rather than good living.