Human-centered design has been critical to innovations in production and web development since the 1990s, and then in 2008, IDEO.org popularized it among nonprofits to enhance accessibility and inclusiveness in programming.
Now, companies and executives are applying human-centered design principles to the workplace and creating an environment that works better for their employees.
What Is Human-Centered Design?
Human-centered design started with the desire to serve all people through accessible, inclusive products. That idea expands to the way we work, and hybrid or flexible work is the answer.
Offices and corporate policymakers are looking at their employees first and designing their company culture with people as the center. Through active listening, empathy, and feedback, workplaces will become more accommodating to different needs and responsibilities outside of work, allowing each individual to do their best work.
The three main components of human-centered design are inspiration, ideation, and implementation.
Inspiration
The first step in designing a human-centered workplace is inspiration through empathy: understanding each other's problems in the workplace and solving them through systems, processes, and scheduling.
Ideation
Next, you’ll brainstorm solutions to the problems. Start thinking of ways your team will work together best. Identify the pain points in your current communications or workflows and be open to new solutions.
You’re discovering how to do your best work, so no idea is a bad idea: you just need to find which idea works best!
Implementation
Now that you’ve empathized with each other and discovered possible solutions to your workplace problems, you’re ready to implement a new way of working.
In human-centered design, you must remain flexible: each person’s needs evolve and change, so your strategy will change over time.
You Are the Center of Your Work
In a human-centric workplace, YOU and your needs are the center of the workplace.
Some executives believe that a flexible work environment will result in everyone working remotely, from a beach in a different time zone: but that’s because they have not practiced the active listening and empathy suggested by human-centered design principles.
In fact, the vast majority of employees would like to work in the office once or twice a week. The purpose of in-office work has changed, and those needs should be considered when designing an office or planning department meetings.
Another way businesses can demonstrate they put the employee first is through health requirements and safe working areas, whether high-traffic lobbies or conference rooms.
Flexible Work: The Social Innovation of Our Time
Flexible work is more than allowing your employees to log on whenever they feel inspired: a human-centric workplace considers your employees’ needs, motivations, and concerns. For example, workers in some countries are less enthusiastic about showing their coworkers their home in the background of the Zoom meeting. Others are still in the early stage of digital awareness.
By taking human-centered design principles into your company policy, you are creating an inclusive workplace, making it possible for parents, caregivers, or even those with health concerns to contribute to the workplace and earn an income.
Adopting flexible work also requires the participants to value input from remote and in-person employees equally. As a society, we’re changing the way we typically build relationships and work together. Flexible work gets to drive that innovation.
The Future of Work: The Human-Centered Workplace
However your company or department chooses to implement human-centered principles, the process always leads to allowing employees to choose when and where they work. That choice shows your company cares enough about that individual’s contribution in the workplace that you want them to have fulfilling lives outside of work, as well.
When you place your people at the center of your workplace policies, you will hire and retain the best employees year after year.
As you’re developing your human-centric work policies, discuss these questions with your team:
Where is our culture valuing in-person interaction over virtual?
How can we better make caregiving a default assumption for all employees?
When is in-person, real-time communication the most valuable?
How can we address health and safety concerns so each worker feels heard?