Human Centred Design Thinking

Human-centred Design Thinking combines the principles of design thinking, which focuses on approaching problem solving in stages that first focuses on ensuring a proper understanding of the problem, with an added fucus of empathy towards the end-user—in your case, the Council’s Customers. It employs a problem-solving framework that starts with understanding the human perspective in all steps of the process. This methodology aims to ensure that solutions not only solve the actual problem at hand but also provides a beneficial and effective experience for council’s customers.

During the workshop(s) we focus on:

Why deep understanding of the problem is important - We're all pushed to drive solutions - we've all been told: "don't come to me with a problem, come to me with a solution!" This doesn't mean jump to solutions... you still have to do the hard work!

Why diversity is integral - problems are complex and best understood from many angles and vantage points - how can you ensure you're considering all aspects? Diversity!

Creative problem solving - How do we create the space for free thought and creative solutions? Awareness around what's constraining our creativity and knowing how to remove these constraints.

Failure (or the willingness to encounter it) is the key to success - And the faster you iterate through the development, test, and refine process the more likely you are to develop robust fit-for-purpose solutions.

The one-day format

A great opportunity to introduce you to the principles of design thinking and what it means to be human centred. Participants will learn the concepts of human centred design thinking and apply these teachings to a real-world problem within their organisation or life. The pace is engaging and intense but you'll come out of it invigorated and excited to explore using these tools back at the office.

The deep dive format

Allows for the concepts to be deeply rooted over a period of time. This approach involves 3 half-day workshop sessions over a 4 week period.

Day 1: Introduction to Human-Centered Design Thinking

• Objective: Understand the principles of both methodologies and how they can complement each other.
• Agenda:
• Overview of Design Thinking and Human-Centered Design
• Understanding the benefits
• Identifying what makes it different and why it’s relevant to Local Government
• Homework: Consider real-world problems that the council is encountering for discussion in the next session.

Day 2: Diving into the Problem Space

• Objective: Gain hands-on experience in applying these approaches to solve real-world local government problems.
• Agenda:
• Sitting in the problem space to identify the actual problem vs. symptoms
• Techniques for root cause analysis
• Why the problem statement is a crucial piece to the puzzle
• Challenging the problem statement by developing a research plan to gather data that confirms or denies the problem statement
• Homework: Execute a research plan that validates or refines the problem statement developed during this session.

Day 3: Stepping into the Solution Space

• Objective: Learn to develop effective solutions based on a refined understanding of the problem.
• Agenda:
• Finalizing the problem statement based on homework findings
• Empathy Mapping
• Ideation and Prototyping
• Action: Encouragement to actually prototype, test, and refine the solution developed during this session.