Creating Products and Services with a Human Centered Focus: The Principles of Human Centered Design

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The Principles of Human Centered Design

Human centered design is a process that helps us to create products and services that are designed with the needs of the people who will be using them in mind. Even if you don't follow the process of human centered design, the principles still apply. The first principle is a human centric focus, which means that when you are designing something, you should always be thinking of the people it is intended for. This includes not only the people who will retrieve the items, but also the people who have to put the items up there in the first place.

Finding the Right Problem

The second important principle of human centered design is to find the right problem. Often when someone gives you a problem to solve, it is not the fundamental problem. Instead, it is a symptom of the problem. The goal of human centered design is to solve the fundamental root problem. It is not always easy, but it is worth the effort to try to solve the root problem. Even if you can’t solve the root problem, it is sometimes okay to just solve the symptoms.

Evaluating Local Optimization

The third principle of human centered design is to think of everything as a system and look at all of the components. This means that when you are optimizing each of the small pieces, you should not focus on local optimization. Instead, you should be thinking about the big picture and what the final result you care about is. User experience is not always the most important component. For example, a camera is just a tool to get to the real user experience, which is the experience of enjoying the movie, video, or picture.

Remembering the Goal

The fourth and final principle of human centered design is to remember the goal of the people who use your products. It is important to remember that the goal is not necessarily to understand or use the tools, but to get to the end result.

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