Human-centered design firms you should know

A design can change the world. And organizations around the world are turning to human-centered design to find creative approaches to solve social challenges around the world. Human-centered design is an approach to problem-solving that incorporates the interests of end users throughout the design process so solutions are tailored to meet their needs. Although each design firm has its own approach the core parts of the process include participatory research, feedback and partnership with the communities they serve. In the words of Donald A. Norman, co-founder of Nielsen Norman Group, “Human-centered design is a philosophy, not a precise set of methods, but one that assumes that innovation should start by getting close to users and observing their activities.” Here’s a list of some of the human-centered design firms doing this work: Adaptive Path Adaptive Path was founded in 2001 but cut a niche for itself when the team merged with Capital One in 2014 with the goal of designing ways for the bank to improve its customer user experience. In 2015, the company created adaptivepath.org, as a platform “to share ideas on how to transform communities by design.” Anthro-Tech Anthro-Tech is “a user-centered design consultancy focused on government agencies, nonprofits, and enterprises with a social-impact mission.” The firm has worked with organizations in both public and private sectors including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Arte Fact Group Artefact was founded in 2006 as a technology product design company. Based in Seattle, the company has clients in both private and public sector. The firm’s work in the nonprofit sector includes collaborating with PATH to design “diagnostic product concepts that would reduce the life-threatening infections that occur during pregnancy and labor.” Causelabs CauseLabs is a company that designs web platforms and mobile apps to increase engagement and connectivity for organizations and users globally. Some of the organizations the firm has worked with are Village Capital, Reading in Motion, Engaged Public, and Moneythink, University of Cincinnati Economic Center etc. Co-Design Studio Co-Design Studio is a social enterprise based in Australia that engages government, developers, and communities in the country to create neighborhoods that foster connection and inclusion. Continuum Continuum is a global innovation design consultancy with more than 330 design and utility patents in its portfolio. In 2014, it designed “Daktari Diagnostics,” which was aimed at providing “access to care in underserved communities where clinical lab testing was unavailable.” Continuum also has expertise in brand design, strategy and engineering. Dalberg Design Impact Group Drawing resources and expertise from its parent organisation, Dalberg Global Development Advisors, Dalberg Research and D. Capital, DIG works to improve the condition of lives in underserved communities. The services offered include design labs, product and business prototypes, service and program design, and capacity building. Daylight This firm combines “design thinking with … design skills to envision and create compelling solutions across a variety of challenges: digital, physical and social.” One of its social impact design includes UNICEF Kid Power, a learning and physical exercise app. The firm has also worked with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Omidyar Network and Humanity United, among others. Daytona The digital company has a design arm. In June 2015, the Sweden-based company designed a mobile app called “SMS-lifesaver” in collaboration with Karolinska Institutet to help increase access to first aid treatment when patients suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital. The platform currently has about 13,000 trained CPR volunteers spread across Stockholm who respond to alerts sent through the mobile app. Design It Founded in 1991 in Denmark, DesignIt is focused on creating product-service design to transform the way organizations in both private and public sector approach business. “We want to make a human-shaped world,” Mikal Hallstrup, ones of its founder and global CEO, wrote in a LinkedIn Thought Leadership post in July. This vision “implies a strong bias to human needs, in other words, relevance, usefulness and meaning.” Frog Design Frog Design’s tagline is “design and innovation that advances human experience.” The firm works with organizations in the private and nonprofit sector. It has partnered with the United Nations Children’s Fund to design mobile health initiatives in Malawi and Zambia. Gobee Group Gobee has expertise in research, data analysis, digital media production and user-interface design. It works with clients to develop products and services to tackle a variety of challenges. Greater Good Studio Greater Good Studio partners with local organization to create human-centered design that addresses critical challenges in underserved communities. Having partnered with over 30 local organizations, Greater Good Studio has carried out several research and design projects, including a digital platform for teens in juvenile detention. HopeLab HopeLab was founded in 2001 with the mission of creating video games to help children fight cancer. The firm has continued to design different products and services aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of young people around the world. They have designed different video games and worked in partnership with organisations such as Stanford Children's Health, Greater Good Science Center, 1440, Cigna etc. iDE In 2009 was awarded a grant by the Gates Foundation to “create a guide that would provide human-centered design tools to other NGOs and social enterprise.” The result was the birth of the HCD toolkit. With work experience spanning across countries in Africa, Asia and Central America, iDE focuses mainly on gender, climate change, nutrition, finance, agriculture and food security. Idea Couture Idea Couture is a design firm founded in 2007 in Toronto. Earlier this month, they were featured in Fast Company for their design “IMPACT,” which is a board game aimed at preparing users for the future of work and how it is being disrupted by technology. They have design experience in various sectors including technology and health. The firm has worked with GlaxoSmithKline, Humana, Cisco, Johnson & Johnson, and others. IDEO.org Launched as a nonprofit in 2011, IDEO is a global design firm based in the U.S. Their portfolio includes the award-winning Asili, a project implemented in partnership with American Refugee Committee to improve access to health and wellbeing of the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Design Kit, an online learning platform focused on human-centered design. Mass Mass is an architectural design firm founded in 2008 to explore the intersection between architecture and the people living in the communities where the buildings are erected. The firm focuses on “design of buildings, research, policy, education and strategic planning.” One of its projects is the Butaro Doctors’ Housing, which was designed and constructed in 2012 to attract and retain skilled physicians at the new Butaro hospital in Rwanda. Matchboxology The team at Matchboxology is known for winning the 2013 Gates Foundation Innovation Challenge. The South Africa-based company works with companies, development-focused organizations and the government to create innovative solutions to tackle social challenges. They have worked on different projects including the Rural Housing Loan Fund in South Africa. QuickSand An India-based design and consultancy firm, Quicksand, boasts of initiating design projects that are disruptive yet user-centered. The firm has worked on projects for both development organizations and corporations across the world, including the United Nations Development Program, PATH, Samsung, and Cisco. ThinkPlace Foundation From conducting ethnographic research to co-designing solutions with government, NGOs and communities, ThinkPlace Foundation “specializes in applying design thinking to complex social good initiatives that transform markets and communities, and that shape the lives of millions of people.” The focus areas are: increasing financial including, improving human health, strengthening the public systems and building the capacity NGOs working in communities. Are there other design firms we left out of the list? Let us know in the comments section. Check out more insights and analysis for global development leaders like you, and sign up as an Executive Member to receive the information you need for your organization to thrive.