A human-centered design process is a creative approach to solving people’s problems that begins with identifying their needs and ends with creating solutions that meet those needs1. A human-centered design process typically involves the following steps in this order23:
Observation: This step involves researching and understanding the users, their context, their goals, their pain points, and their behaviors. Observation methods include interviews, surveys, ethnography, contextual inquiry, and data analysis.
Ideation: This step involves generating and exploring a wide range of possible solutions that address the users’ needs and problems. Ideation methods include brainstorming, sketching, mind mapping, affinity diagramming, and storyboarding.
Prototyping: This step involves creating and testing low-fidelity or high-fidelity representations of the proposed solutions, such as mockups, wireframes, or interactive models. Prototyping methods include paper prototyping, digital prototyping, and rapid prototyping.
User Feedback: This step involves collecting and analyzing feedback from the users on the prototypes, such as their opinions, preferences, satisfaction, and suggestions. User feedback methods include usability testing, user testing, focus groups, and surveys.
Iteration: This step involves refining and improving the prototypes based on the user feedback, and repeating the prototyping and user feedback steps until the optimal solution is achieved. Iteration methods include agile development, design sprints, and A/B testing.
Implementation: This step involves deploying and launching the final solution to the users, and monitoring and evaluating its performance and impact. Implementation methods include release management, change management, and analytics.
