Finally, in some cases the unintended negative consequences outweigh any good that has resulted. And if they do work at first, they are often so difficult to maintain and service, that they soon fall into disuse. The literature on the world-wide aid community is filled with examples of well-intentioned “solutions” failing to work when introduced into developing nations (see (Easterly, 2013 Ramalingam, 2013). This works well for mass produced items which only allows limited specialization for individual needs and requirements.Īlthough traditional methods are effective for traditional mass-produced items, they are unable to take account of the local needs, cultures, and history of individual people and communities. This is Top-Down design: starting with higher-level conceptualizations and then refining the ideas and concepts to specific instances of products or services. However, its approach is generally used in situations where professionals determine the needs of the target populations and then develop products and procedures to address the needs. The principles of human-centered design have proven to be effective and productive. Experts become facilitators, by mentoring and providing tools, toolkits, workshops, and support.
#Human design definition full#
Instead, we propose that we leverage the creativity within the communities of the world to solve their own problems: This is community-driven design, taking full advantage of the fact that it is the people in communities who best understand their problems and the impediments and affordances that impede and support change. In the traditional approach, experts study, design, and implement solutions for the people of the world. We propose a radical change in design from experts designing for people to people designing for themselves.
Don Norman and Eli Spencer Thoughts based upon a talk at the 2019 World Government Summit, Feb.