User-Centered Design (UCD)
User-centered design grew out of human-computer interaction, cognitive psychology and anthropology, and is traced back to Don Norman, later expanded by co-creation approaches such as Liz Sanders and Pieter Jan Stappers. The book also cautions that on its own it can reduce people to simplified users or data points if not paired with a wider sense of social responsibility.
The book presents User-Centered Design as its central worked example of structural coupling: 'The shift towards User-Centered Design (UCD), which gained prominence from the latter part of the 20th century, reflects a significant structural coupling of design with changing understandings emerging from human-computer interaction research, cognitive psychology, anthropology, and evolving market demands for enhanced usability, accessibility, and user experience' (Ch6 §058). Discussing Users within the Human Component, it attributes the method to its originator: 'Don Norman's "user-centered design," while foundational, has been expanded by calls for empathetic approaches (e.g., Liz Sanders and Pieter Jan Stappers on co-creation)' (Ch10 §106). Under Social Responsibility, the book critiques the approach as insufficient on its own: Social Responsibility moves 'far beyond the checklists of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives ... and even beyond well-intentioned user-centered design approaches that, however valuable, can sometimes inadvertently reduce complex human beings to simplified "users", consumers, personas or data points to be optimized for engagement or extraction' (Ch9 §097).
Related in Community
Entries this one is tied to through the book.
Examples
- Dutch Design Week · both placed under Structural Coupling
- Nal'ibali Campaign, South Africa · both placed under Users
- Aguablanca District Urban Planning, Cali · discussed together in section 106
Methods
- Sustainable Design · both placed under Structural Coupling
- Anti-Racist Design · discussed together in section 097
- Co-Design / Co-Creation · discussed together in section 106
- Design for Disassembly · discussed together in section 058
Books and references
- Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change · discussed together in section 097
- Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need · discussed together in section 106
- The Design of Everyday Things · discussed together in section 106
Disciplines
- Service Design · discussed together in section 053
In the Framework
- Structural Coupling · concept
- Human Component
- Environment (Ecological Niche)
- Users · element
- Social Responsibility
In the book
- Chapter 6, section 058 · Structural Coupling: The Co-evolutionary Dance with the Environment
- Chapter 9, section 097 · Social Responsibility - An Ethical Commitment to Well-being, Equity, Dignity, and Collective Liberation
- Chapter 10, section 106 · Environment Dimension
Mentioned in
Methods