ABSTRACT
Human centered design (HCD) or user centered design (UCD) is an integrated research and design approach led by the motivation to responsibly and responsively address the genuine needs and desires of people affected by design intervention. The approach stands in contrast to technology-led or purely commercial, marketing driven approaches, and extends throughout the design process through a set of creative research methods and processes aimed at enhancing design outcomes and therefore human lives affected by design. Contextualizing human centered design in terms of sustainability would assume changing situations into those preferred not only by individual users, but also by communities of people, society at large, and with respect for the natural environment. This chapter provides a context for human centered design through a brief history and overview of currently defined practice, coupled with a more specific understanding of the approach motivated toward sustainability. Methods for conducting human centered research and design will be discussed, highlighting those with greatest potential in the context of sustainability. A framework of four levels of human centered design aimed at sustainable change will be presented. In conclusion, benefits and outcomes of human centered design will be discussed, including critique and future of the approach.
