“HCDE? What does that stand for?”
“So are you, like, an engineer or a designer??”
“Human centered design? It can’t be that hard to design products for people!”
I’m sure everyone in the field of HCDE has heard these questions. Often more than once. With HCDE being such a small program within the deep dark labyrinth of the UW College of Engineering, it has not gained much recognition outside of the program itself. Even when I explain my projects from HCDE 210 to my peers at UW, I am met with confused looks. They seem perplexed about the purpose and methods of my assignments, even referring to my work as “fake,” (as a joke, but nevertheless it shows their lack of exposure to user specific design). So here is a simple guide to the ins and outs of human centered design engineering.
To begin, the main idea behind human centered design engineering is in the name: human centered. The goal of designers is to create products that are best fit for their specific user groups. For example, products for children would likely need to be simpler and consist mostly of fun colors and images in order to make said product more engaging for its users. User groups can be broad or very specific. Anywhere from public transport users to blind seventy-five-year-old Russian scuba divers. No matter how broad the user group, as long as their needs are deeply considered during every stage of product design, then that practice falls into the realm of HCDE.
So what does it mean to “consider one’s users?” From my experience in HCDE 210, I have learned that it’s more than just designing products for people. Human centered designers must accommodate for the needs of every user they are designing for as well as consider the ethics behind their creations. Will the product negatively impact or overall worsen the livelihood of any group? Will the product damage the environment? Will it cause emotional trauma? These are all questions that designers must ask themselves during the creative process.
This brings us to the two main goals of human centered designers: to create user-specific products capably and responsibly. Being capable is a matter of whether or not a theoretical design is actually able to be designed. Some limiting factors include insufficient technology, resource scarcity, and human limitations. Designers must first brainstorm with little to no regard for capability, but when narrowing down their ideas, they must be practical in choosing a capable design. Being responsible means that designers must consider the consequences and ethical dilemmas that might be spawned by their products. In addition to considerations, it is the responsibility of a designer to ensure that their product does not harm its users, other people, and the environment. For example, creating a product that would be useful, but construct bad habits or cause emotional damage in its users is unethical of the designer. Overall, throughout the design process it is critical to consider the practicality and ethics of one’s creations. Specifically under the field of HCDE, it is also critical to take into account and accommodate for the needs of a product’s users.
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