How to use Human Centered Design & Design Thinking for innovation and Social Impact. Presented by John Cardone, of MetaMeta, for Give Back Hack Philadelphia 2017.

1. Human Centered
Design & Design
Thinking
A Better approach to social impact.
John Cardone
Principal
MetaMeta Group

2. Who’s in the Room?
Business
%
Designer
%
Law/Policy
%
Nonprofits
%
Gov’t
%
Activists
%
Students
%
Citizens
%

3. How familiar are you
with Design Thinking?
Very
%
Somewhat
%
Not at all
%

4. What is
innovation?

5. New products, methods of
production, or management
systems that add value to
economic or social spheres;
It is both a process and an
outcome.

6. GAME CHANGERS
Wholly new solutions to
problems people didn’t
know they had.

7. Innovation requires
a shift in mindset,
and a change in
behavior.

8. Part 1:
The Mindset

9. Human-Centered
Design
A set of
Values

10. Making
people
want
things
Making
things
People
want
From To

11. WHAT PEOPLE SAY THEY
WANT IS OFTEN NOT
WHAT THEY REALLY NEED
WARNING!

12. Human-centered design sits
at the intersection of
empathy and creativity
It’s about discovery, not
invention.

13. Don’t be a designer.
Be an instrument of design.
It’s not about you.

14. Intuitive
Thinking
Analytical
Thinking
Integrative
Thinking
Integrative Thinking
Hello
Collaboration

15. Part 2:
The Behavior

16. A Framework
for Innovation

17. It’s a process...

18. What
People
Want
DESIRABILITY
Innovation
What’s
Technically
Possible
FEASIBILITY
What
Business
Wants
VIABILITY
Design
thinking
helps you
get here...

19. Design Thinking Process
IdeateEmpathize
Define Prototype
Evaluate

20. Design Thinking Process
The Design thinking Process by Stanford Design School
IdeateEmpathize
Define Prototype
Evaluate
Start with
the user.
What
problem are
you solving?
Quick
Cheap
Dirty
Discovery, not
invention.
Evaluate
Iterate
Repeat

21. Design Thinking Process
The Design thinking Process by Stanford Design School
Ideate
Empathize
Define
Prototype
Evaluate

22. Actually, it’s less
about thinking and
more about doing.

23. 30 Second
Design Challenge

24. Make everyone
in this room
HAPPY
in 30 seconds
or less.

25. Go!

26. Stop!

27. “If you’re happy
and you know it,
clap your hands.”

28. Part 3:
Case Studies

29. Exhibit A
The PlayPump

30. The Brief:
Design a better water pump for rural communities in
South Africa, so that children can spend more time in
school, instead of hauling water from the river.

31. The PlayPump,
by Roundabout Water Solutions, South Africa

32. The PlayPump,
by Roundabout Water Solutions, South Africa
The power of play!
…. and advertising….

33. The PlayPump,
by Roundabout Water Solutions, South Africa
Let’s compare to the
standard African
Bush Pump

34. The PlayPump,
by Roundabout Water Solutions, South Africa
Standard Bush
Pump
PlayPump
Cost $ $ $ $ $
Pump Time
Required
Repair Easy Difficult
Water
Delivery
Medium-Fast Slow
User
Experience
Hard
but simple &
reliable
Labor Intensive,
Humiliating &
Unreliable

35. The PlayPump,
by Roundabout Water Solutions, South Africa
The Final Humiliation

36. The PlayPump,
by Roundabout Water Solutions, South Africa
The power of play!
…. and advertising….

37. The New Brief:
Let’s Figure out how to get clean, running water in schools,
so that children can focus on learning, instead of pumping
water all day. (waterforpeople.org)

38. Key takeaways
➔ Good storytelling is not the same as
innovation.
➔ Always start with the user, not assumptions.
➔ Learning from failure is inevitable. Failing big
is not.
➔ If it’s important, someone is already working
on it. Learn from them.

39. Exhibit B
Portugal’s Drug Crisis

40. Portugal’s Drug Crisis
2000 2001 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
1.00%
0%
0.50%
1997 2011
Estimated Problem Users as
Percent of population
Number of Drug Related Deaths
Clients Seeking Treatment
98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
1000
0
500

41. Portugal’s Drug Crisis
Care-based decriminalization of all substances.
Every family had its
own drug addict. It
was so, so present
in everyday life,
that it turned
public opinion,"
- João Goulão
National Drug Coordinator
Portugal
“

42. The Brief:
Solve Portugal’s dire drug addiction crisis. Reduce drug
use, addiction, and deaths, and find a way to help those
already addicted, all on shrinking government budget.

43. Portugal’s Drug Crisis
Care-based decriminalization of all substances.
If the drugs hurt
my body too
much, I escape a
little, and then I
come back
again. It's a
world I cannot
escape!”
- Antonio
Heroin Addict
Lisbon, Portugal
“

44. The User
becomes the user

45. Starting in 2001,
possession or use of
any drug — even
heroin — has been
treated as a health
issue, not a crime.

46. Drug dealers are still sent to
prison. But anyone caught
with less than a 10-day supply
of any drug — including heroin
— gets mandatory medical
treatment.

47. Portugal’s Drug Crisis
Care-based decriminalization of all substances.
And for those truly addicted, a methadone
van comes to them every day, gently
bringing them into the healthcare system.

48. Portugal’s Drug Crisis
Care-based decriminalization of all substances.
2000 2001 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
1.00%
0%
0.50%
1997 2011
Estimated Problem Users
Percent of population
Number of Drug Related Deaths
Clients Seeking Treatment
98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
1000
0
500

49. Portugal’s Drug Crisis
Care-based decriminalization of all substances.

51. It's cheaper to treat
people than to
incarcerate them”
- Nuno Capaz
Lisbon Public Sociologist
“

52. It was the combination of
the law and these
services that made it a
success. It's very difficult
to find people in Portugal
who disagree with this
model.
- João Goulão
National Drug Coordinator
Portugal
“

53. Key takeaways
➔ Necessity is the mother of invention, but
often the inventors are not the ones in
need.
➔ Portugal engaged in user-centric model
by accident; the designers were users.
➔ Affected users usually want help, but they
don’t always know how to ask for it.
➔ Portugal inadvertently adopted an
iterative approach.

54. Conclusion:
The Good News

55. You don’t
have to be a
designer.”
- Tim Brown
CEO, IDEO
“

57. Human Centered
Design & Design
Thinking
A Better approach to social impact.
John Cardone
Principal
MetaMeta Group

58. John Cardone
Founder, Principal
MetaMeta
www.metameta.group/givebackhack
john@metameta.group
@jdcardone
RESOURCES - www.metameta.group/resources