Remember the days before UberEats, when one person would pick up lunch for the office and everyone had to agree where to order from?
It isn’t easy getting an entire department’s buy-in on meatball subs. It’s even harder getting the green light for something that matters, like launching a human-centered design initiative.
You may be interested in human-centered design, but that doesn’t mean your stakeholders are. How do you get widespread approval — or better yet, excitement — about human-centered design at your organization?
Focus on the business value to make a compelling argument.
Why is human-centered design important?
Your team members have probably heard of human-centered design. But they may not fully understand the approach.
Human-centered design is a problem-solving approach that centers on the human perspective.
For example, if a health system aimed to solve the problem of long waiting room times through human-centered design, they’d want to involve:
- Patients: The people experiencing the frustration of long waits.
- Providers: The group on the receiving end of the frustration.
- Staff: The employees who work directly with patients and may need to roll out changes as a result of the project.
- IT: The department in charge of self sign-in systems and waiting room screens.
Human-centered design is important because it results in experiences that are more positive, inclusive and satisfying for everyone. This offers several benefits from a business lens.
Benefits of human-centered design
Take note of 6 key benefits of human-centered design to share with stakeholders.
1. Uncovers and solves problems
The best way to find out how consumers and employees feel about a situation is to ask them.
Human-centered design uses workshops, in-depth interviews and other methods to identify challenges or obstacles within an experience. The friction points you find become your starting point for innovation efforts. Through co-design, you can create favorable solutions that benefit both consumers and the organization.
Track and measure the impact of human-centered solutions through touchpoint-specific surveys.
2. Improves customer retention and loyalty
Human-centered design helps you understand:
- Your customers’ needs
- Why they choose you
- Why they keep choosing you
Customer retention is 5x more cost-effective than acquiring new customers. Maximize customer lifetime value by understanding the pivotal moments in their journey and improving any experiences that put them off.
Track and measure customer retention to demonstrate the ROI of human-centered design.
3. Enhances brand perception
When consumers feel that a brand listens to them and truly cares, brand perception strengthens. Positive brand perception is correlated to customer loyalty, brand recognition and company growth.
Track and measure brand perception improvement through a brand perception study or by tracking market share. Tools like Brandwatch can aid in brand monitoring.
4. Increases referrals
According to Nielsen, 88% of consumers said that they trusted recommendations from people they know, above all other forms of marketing messaging. But unhappy customers will not be making recommendations, and will likely share a negative experience with an even larger audience.
People talk, and what a customer says about their experience with your brand leaves a lasting impact. Use this to your advantage.
Track and measure changes in referrals to observe the impact of a recent human-centered design initiative.
5. Drives revenue
There’s a common element between each of the benefits we’ve listed so far:
- Effective problem-solving
- Improved customer retention
- Enhanced brand perception
- Increased referrals
Each outcome has the potential to drive revenue in turn. Customer experience, brand reputation and business outcomes live on an intricate web, with each element influencing the others.
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Track and measure changes in revenue to quantify the ROI of human-centered design.
6. Improves culture
Remember, human-centered design involves the perspectives of everyone affected. This includes employees.
When employees are included in company-wide changes and given a voice to be part of the solution, they feel heard and valued. Better yet, when they’re involved in design thinking workshops with consumers, they get to experience the power of human-centered design themselves.
By making customers a part of the journey mapping process, Cast & Hue enabled our emergency department staff to see their experience in a totally different light.
- Katy Rigsby, Vice President Marketing & Communications, OhioHealth
People want to work for human-centric businesses. Sharing human-centered design with employees creates a people-first philosophy that’s company-wide.
Track and measure employee retention metrics to understand the impact of human-centered design on company culture.
Track ROI of human-centered design in 4 steps
Know how to measure success of projects incorporating design thinking and human-centered design principles.
Step 1: Include all stakeholders early
Involve everyone impacted by the work, in the work, before you begin. This helps you get everyone on board and even excited about upcoming changes, rather than resistant to adapt.
With team, staff and leadership buy-in, it’s easier to make the necessary changes and see the results you’re after.
Step 2: Identify the goal of your project
Why are you interested in potentially launching a human-centered design initiative?
- What outcome(s) are you looking to achieve?
- What problem(s) are you attempting to solve?
- How does achieving these results or solving these problems align with business objectives?
Set a primary goal to strive for.
Step 3: Establish your baseline
Now that a goal is set, figure out your baseline. Identify the customer experience-focused marker(s) you’ll use to track progress over time:
- Touchpoint-specific metrics, such as waiting room times
- Satisfaction survey results
- Market share
- Brand perception
Need support finding your baseline? Let’s talk about it.
Step 4: Set a plan for tracking progress
It’s easy to get caught up on a shiny new project once you wrap up the first one. But demonstrating the ROI of projects makes it easier to achieve leadership buy-in for the next initiative you’re excited about.
Set a schedule to track progress on a consistent basis. Report your findings to leadership and the company as a whole. Employees want to know that the changes they made are making a difference.
Learn more about the value of human-centered design
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