By Laura Pinsoneault and Kristen Gardner-Volle
What seems like common sense is less so when we face the reality of addressing complex problems in health care and human services. It’s easy to go forward based on what we think is the best approach without questioning what makes it the best approach or if there is a better way.
Whether it’s working to narrow health care disparities or figuring out how best to run a large-scale population health improvement, the most effective solutions lie with the very people we are trying to help. This approach is known as Human Centered Design (HCD).
Rather than focusing on funder desires or our own passions, beliefs, or expertise, HCD develops solutions in service of people. HCD requires understanding the needs of the people affected before coming up with a plan and building a design together.
Though our intentions are to put people first, we live in a culture focused on quantity and efficiency, not necessarily real-world usability. As a result, the needs of people with lived experience get lost or sidelined. Using HCD tools, we promote collaboration, zero in on the needs of the population, keep those needs at the center and let them drive innovative solutions.
To have lasting impact, you have to take the time. And when you do, it actually saves time and resources in the long run because the change you make is sustainable.
HCD isn’t quick or easy. Doing things in new and unfamiliar ways can be hard. HCD can feel slow at first. It’s easy to become impatient while brainstorming and testing for results. Truly reaping HCD’s benefits, however, requires commitment, enthusiasm, collaboration and humility. We must recognize that, despite our experience and expertise, we don’t know everything and cannot think through every potential solution and approach alone.
At Evaluation Plus, we start from the philosophy that all people can thrive. We look for opportunities to work on projects that help people who can benefit most when HCD is implemented. This philosophy is infused in everything we do. Imagine how much better it would be for the people who need assistance or support if those of us walking alongside them are working with them to find solutions. So instead of viewing the communities we are working with as “marginalized” or “underrepresented” groups, we see the value they bring to solving problems. Let’s flip the narrative and see them as partners to solving problems.
We encourage using HCD with programs and strategies, much like how engineers approach changes to technology. Communications companies, for example, are not creating new ways to communicate every year, but they are constantly thinking about how to better serve those who are using their current devices.
The same is true for large-scale projects, funding initiatives and those seeking innovation. Like other innovators, we ask: How can we do it better? What would make this more helpful or easier to use? To make incremental changes that matter, we need to work with the people we want to impact. What are they willing and able to do to effect change? How do we design solutions with that in mind?
If we remember that the people we design programs and services for are actually proven problem solvers themselves (they have to be, given the obstacles in their way), it only makes sense that they are part of the conversation when it comes to developing solutions.
Laura Pinsoneault, PhD, is president and CEO of Evaluation Plus. Kristen Gardner-Volle, MS, is the firm’s Research & Evaluation Associate.
