What is Human-Centered Design?

The education objective has been shifting over the last year from material focused to student-focused. Educators are looking for new ways to engage their students and make learning personal and fun for them. Human-centered design has become a buzzword in the education community recently, and Noah Geisel joined us to discuss human-centered design.

What is Human-Centered Design?

Human-centered design is exactly what it sounds like. Humans are put at the center of everything. With a human-centered design, educators are able to put their students at the center of the curriculum rather than the traditional approach of teaching students to set a standardized curriculum.

Eduspire describes the human-centered design as, “the formal and informal learning that occurs throughout a human-centered design challenge can address course standards/learning targets in the short term while equipping students with creative confidence and a skill set that can be deployed throughout their lifetime.” This design understands that people are behind any function; humans are the reason anything works, so let’s provide learning in a way that is focused on the person. 

Noah stated that human-centered design focuses on humans, empathy, and asking questions. Ending with questions rather than just statements allows educators to see if students are really grasping the material as well as develop critical thinking questions while learning. This also promotes a way to learn from others and put a filter in place so that students know why you are sharing information with them.

Noah Geisel on Human-Centered Design

Noah stated that he has seized on empathy is the key to how educators engage students and how we are able to humble ourselves by investing in others. He urges educators to ask, “what assumptions are we making here?” Have conversations to enhance empathy among students and to really get to know your students on more than just an educational level. With conversations like these educators are able to find patterns in student work that connects to their home situations. 

Human-Centered design approaches learning with the student in mind. Like social-emotional learning the human-centered design allows students to open up and develop interpersonal skills while learning. 

Listen to the full conversation with Noah Geisel on our Tackling Tech Podcast!

On this episode of Tackling Tech Podcast, powered by Dyknow, Brett McGrath speaks to Noah Geisel, an educator, EdTech Coach, trainer, speaker, and expert in Digital Badge Credentials. Brett and Noah discuss equity, access, opportunity and human-centered design.