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What is Human Centered Design?

Human-Centred Design (HCD) is a creative problem-solving approach that puts the needs, experiences, and feedback of people at the heart of the design process. It’s commonly used in product design, education, engineering, and social innovation — including STEAM and IoT projects — to ensure that solutions are meaningful, usable, and effective for real users.

The 3 Key Phases of Human-Centred Design

1) Inspiration (Empathise – Understand the people you’re designing for)

• Observe users in their environment.

• Conduct interviews or surveys.

• Identify their pain points, motivations, and goals.

2) Ideation (Define – Synthesize your findings, Brainstorm widely without judgment)

• Frame a clear problem statement using “How might we…” questions (e.g. “How might we help students focus better in class?”)

• Identify key user needs and challenges.

• Ideate – Generate creative ideas.

• Use design thinking tools like SCAMPER or Crazy 8s.

• Select promising ideas for prototyping.

• Prototype & Test – Create and refine solutions.

3) Implementation (Build low-fidelity prototypes (e.g., sketches, models, digital mock-ups))

• Test with users, get feedback, and iterate.

This cycle can repeat multiple times as teams refine their understanding and improve their designs.

The Human-Centered Design Toolkit is an essential guide that will cover the three phases of Inspiration, Ideation and Implementation, further reading: https://www.designkit.org/

CLEAR is a systematic approach to establish new facts.

The sequence of Enquiry, Answering, and Reflecting describes key components of Contextualised Learning processes, often part of an inquiry-based or reflective practice framework. This cycle allows learners to investigate real-world topics, find answers tailored to a specific situation, and critically reflect on their experience to build lasting knowledge.  

The Process Explained

This educational approach generally involves the following steps:

• Enquiry (or Inquiry): The process begins with curiosity and a driving question, often posed by the student or inspired by an authentic, real-world scenario. This stage focuses on identifying the problem, exploring current knowledge, and developing a plan to find answers. It moves beyond simply seeking facts to a deeper exploration of a topic.

• Answering: This involves the active investigation, research, and processing of information to address the initial question. In a contextualized setting, the "answer" is not just a rote fact but a solution or understanding that is relevant to the specific context or problem being studied. Students may experiment, gather data, and develop their own ideas through active engagement.

• Reflecting: This is a critical metacognitive process where the learner thinks back on the entire experience—what they did, what they learned, and why certain outcomes occurred. Reflection helps bridge the gap between theory and practice, allowing individuals to discover new meanings, gain insights, and decide on future actions. It can occur throughout the process (reflection-in-action) and after (reflection-on-action). 

The Role of Contextualised Learning

By grounding the inquiry in a specific context (e.g., a professional experience or a daily life situation), the learning process becomes more meaningful and relevant to the student. This approach helps students to: 

• Develop a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

• Enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

• Become self-directed and autonomous learners responsible for their own learning journey. 

This cycle is a foundation for lifelong learning, transforming passive knowledge acquisition into an active, social, and ongoing process of growth.