User-Centered Design (UCD) and Design Thinking (DT)
What are UCD and DT?
UCD and DT are two related design methods used in artifact development and problem-solving, with some key similarities and differences.
User Centered Design
UCD is a method that puts users' needs at the forefront throughout the design process, especially for digital interfaces and products.
The UCD process is iterative and generally includes:
- Early and continuous involvement of users
- Iterative design process
- Regular user feedback collection and incorporation
- Focus on improving usability and user experience
Key characteristics of UCD include:
- Primarily applied to software/hardware development
- Emphasizes usability and accessibility of interfaces
- Based more on concrete user research and data
- Aims to enhance user satisfaction with a product
Design Thinking
DT is a broader problem-solving methodology focusing on innovation and ideation to create solutions for users' problems. It can be applied to various domains like product design, service design, policy creation, and other relevant healthcare problem spaces.
The Design Thinking process typically involves five iterative steps:
- Empathize – Discover users' needs, requirements, and challenges
- Define – Understand the problem before moving on to solutions
- Ideate – Generate innovative ideas for game-changing solutions
- Prototype – Build low- to high-fidelity prototypes
- Test – Evaluate all prototypes with users and integrate feedback to continue iteration
Key characteristics of Design Thinking include:
- Applicable across simple to complex design problems
- Focuses on creative problem-solving through innovation
- Applicable to broader challenges beyond just user-interfaces
- Leverages empathy to identify pain points associated with the user's emotions
Where can Design Thinking be used?
- Clinical care
- Quality improvement
- In research for intervention development
- The creation of documents, apps, and websites
Other Design Frameworks of Note
Human-Centered Design (HCD)
HCD is closely related to UCD. The main difference is the size of the intended audience. UCD narrowly defines the user, e.g., a clinical provider working in General Internal Medicine. HCD defines the intended audience as all people within in a community, i.e., patients who use medical services at an institution like UCHealth. HCD is also more interested in the intended audience’s psychological and emotional needs. This aspect makes HCD related to DT, in that both are concerned about having empathy for the end-user. HCD is suited for service design, where the design needs to have an impact on people.
Equity-centered design (ECD)
This method is used when equitable outcomes are expected for marginalized and/or underrepresented populations. This approach pays careful attention to the needs of a specific group that may otherwise go unnoticed, e.g., Internet connection for homeless populations. In general, two additional steps are added to the 5-step DT method, which include Notice and Reflect. In the Notice phase, the facilitator develops self-awareness of their own identity, biases, and assumptions.
Method Expertise
Design process and individual design exercise
We offer insights on how to develop a design process to collect the needed information and requirements from your intended audience.
Usability testing
- Think Aloud
- Cognitive interviews
- Heuristic task completion
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