Communities always want to find immediate solutions to problems and this comes at a cost! Generating ideas is always the solution however weighing all the possible solutions with an open mind becomes the key. The design cycle works best in social and community development. Before generating ideas, one must have a problem statement. structuring the idea becomes important because it helps one experimentation stage. The design cycle helps in making the right choices through comparative analysis and experimentation without forgetting detail.
Design thinking is a philosophy that empowers an individual or team to designing products, services, systems and experiences that address the core needs of those who experience a problem. At its most effective, the very people who experience a problem the most are a constant part of the design process and when possible, become part of the design team itself.
We need to move a step forward towards solving our community problems and that can be achieved through integration of the Human Centered Design approach. It’s commonly used in design and management frameworks that develop solutions to problems by involving the Human perspective in all steps of the problem solving processes.
When you focus on the users while developing usable and useful systems, their needs and requirements align perfectly to your design.
HCD builds on participatory action research by moving beyond participants’ involvement and producing solutions to problems rather than solely documenting them. Initial stages usually revolve around immersion, observing and contextual framing in which innovators immerse themselves with the problem and community. Consequent stages may then focus on community brainstorming, modeling and prototyping, and implementation in community spaces. “When done well, a human centered approach fuels the creation of products that resonate more deeply with an audience- ultimately driving engagement and growth.”
In order to harness Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, here are some of the design methods that we can practice every day:
- Ask the right questions
- Get out from behind your desk.
- Make user Feedback Routine.
- Think of Design as a Team Sport (Shared ownership of ideas)
- Build minimum viable Prototypes
