Human-Centricity in Professional Problem-Solving

Human-Centred Systems Thinking  

26 March 2020

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https://vinaikumar.wordpress.com/2020/03/26/human-centricity-in-professional-problem-solving/

Most products, services and systems have been designed and made with major inputs from the technologists and/or the marketing strategists. The conventional practice involved developing values propositions based on the competitors’ offerings. While such propositions could have high level of technological innovation, functionality and quality, the end users could encounter challenges in the form of ease of use, safety and convenience. In the rapidly emerging sustainability crisis, all material products must take into consideration the environmental and ecological issues of the earth.

A good example of this approach among B2C business, that most readers can relate to, is the personal computers before the arrival of the intuitive and iconic interface design of the Apple Mac in the 1980s (see the screenshots below – MS-DOS on IBM PC on the left, and Apple Macintosh 1984 on the right). In the recent times, the videoconferencing application Zoom has become rapidly popular owing to its intuitive and integrative features and user experience, which its competitors – Skype and Webex – could not match despite their competitive technology and marketing. In the transportation sector, Tesla electric cars have redefined the automobile market and business because of a radically bold approach for making cars for the masses.

Human-centricity is a concept that puts the human users at the centre of product development. We all want a product or service that is safe, easy to use and maintain, and in the emerging sustainability context, easy and safer to dispose of. The physical, psychological, social, cultural, emotional and economic aspects of the users and their contexts and environments are actively considered in a human-centric problem solving process.

            

Until the 1990s, the world trade wasn’t globalised to the extent it is now. Additionally, the technology development and innovation has exponentially increased in quantity and quality. This has translated into rapid new product development across various sectors. The time to reach the market has shortened. The costs of a product not performing well in terms of sales and acceptance are high because a rework on the design and engineering of the next version of the product will be expensive and the brand and reputation rebuilding may put additional pressure on the company’s resources.

Businesses and social organisations are increasingly finding it crucial to incorporate human-centricity in their management thoughts and their strategic and tactical product development ecosystems. There are many examples of companies and products that demonstrate their economic, competitive, and business growth prospects after adopting a human-centric approach. Some of these companies are Apple Inc., Dyson, Oxo, P&G, Haldiram’s, Tesla, Maruti Suzuki, Toyota and Amazon. I would like to leave more discussion on the particular companies for my future notes.

Vinai Kumar