Reimagining Education in a Digital World: Human-Centered Design as a Blueprint to Create Sustainable Global Learning Experiences

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

At the end of the 20th century, as digital technologies became intertwined with people’s lives, a new term began circulating within technology companies – user experience. However, creators soon realized that the humans who actually engaged with their products were very different from the idealized “users” they envisioned during product creation (Interaction Design Foundation, 2024). Human-centered design (HCD) emerged from that realization.

Now popularized by IDEO within the broader concept of design thinking, HCD is marked not by a proscribed method but a mindset where the people who will engage with a solution are actively involved in a participatory and iterative problem-solving process (Nemeth, 2019). When done well, HCD is “practice-oriented, context-aware, empathetic and works incrementally” (Garreta-Domingo et al., 2018)

HCD’s benefits have fueled its journey out of the boardroom and into the real world, where it is used to design not just products but interactions. HCD is increasingly used in educational spaces, such as higher education institutions (Shehab & James, 2024) and the global development sector (Nemeth, 2019). IDEO has open-source toolkits for teachers and non-profits and a plethora of free and paid resources exist to facilitate the use of these practices for designing learning experiences that advance educational and developmental goals.

When using HCD, a practitioner will first cultivate a rich understanding of the people involved in the design of the solution through processes such as focus groups, interviews, observations, or personas. They will recognize that the problem – and the solution – exists within a system, and they will map the parts within it. Building from that contextual knowledge, they will generate ideas that address the root problems and prototype those solutions, still collaborating with the people involved as part of the ideation process. Then, they will test the solution and make iterative changes based on how well it meets the identified need (NIST, 2021).

This approach – when layered onto an instructional design process such as ADDIE (Analyze-Design-Develop-Implement-Evaluate) – can produce learning experiences that are more equitable, creative, and effective than those created without HCD (Shebah & James, 2024) For instructors in formal and in-formal settings, these approaches allow them to see problems from learners’ perspectives, activating their empathy, and to embrace an identity as a designer who has agency over their learning experiences (Henriksen & Richardson, 2017). It aligns with their human instinct to connect and communicate, to see patterns and make meaning out of them (Brown & Wyatt, 2010). When working with marginalized populations outside of formal education, HCD is a particularly useful to catalyze the necessary adaptations to curricular content and delivery, recognizing that these learners have not been served by traditional methods.

The use of HCD within education is even more critical today, as online and blended formats are increasingly in use and in demand. In the most recent CHLOE 9 report, three-quarters of the chief online learning officers in the U.S. colleges and universities surveyed reported that on-campus students were demanding more online course offerings and 60% said that online course sections filled up the fastest (Simunich et al., 2024).

For educators, this demand means a shift in learning design. Instructors often need to design an entire series of lessons and build out all their content before interacting with their students. In the case of asynchronous and self-paced learning, educators may never interact with their learners.

Making changes to published digital content can be time- or cost-prohibitive, unlike simply editing lecture notes the day before a class. In these spaces, educators need to deeply understand learners’ needs and technology access, consider how they will engage with digital learning experiences, and prototype designs prior to committing to full builds. HCD approaches, such as personas, can help educators to develop this critical understanding.

Beyond its benefits as a tool for learning design, a HCD mindset supports digital adoption. Its approaches are aligned to the Principles for Digital Development – a guide for implementers working in sustainable and inclusive development that has been officially endorsed by more than 300 donors, international organizations, and civil society organizations since its 2014 publication. HCD methods also help address the constructs within the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, specifically how a solution will help someone in their real life (performance expectancy) and how easy it will be to use the solution (effort expectancy). An understanding of the context and the systems in which the user exist also help design for the other constructs of UTAUT – social influence and facilitating conditions (Venkatesh et al., 2003). This makes HCD particularly relevant for the launch of new digital learning experiences, whether introducing technology to new users or rolling out new digital products.

This panel will bring together four global organizations to discuss how an HCD mindset drives their learning experiences, and the methods used to design alongside participants. Case studies will feature the use of HCD to understand curriculum needs of youth at high risk of engaging in crime and violence in the Caribbean; to design an online higher-education diploma in Jordan that would be acceptable and accessible to its instructors and students; to develop a high school extracurricular program to build academic and professional skills in Lebanon, and to empower community ownership through work with local NGOs in Kenya, India, and Cambodia. These diverse cases will show the relevance of HCD across a range of educational contexts and regions.

The cases will cover tools like personas and key informant interviews that address the digital divide, particularly when considering factors like gender and other lines of marginalization, as well as practices such as journey-mapping, prototyping, and curriculum co-design that ensure learners and instructors can access digital education and see themselves reflected in it. The audience will walk away with transferable tools and strategies to adopt within their own endeavors. There will also be time for the audience to ask questions, share their own experiences with HCD, and reflect on the transformative power of educational experiences that are designed to center and cater to the unique needs and preferences of learners.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Hillary Proctor, Making Cents International

Individual Presentations

• Human-Centered Design in Learning: Bridging Realities and Effective Curriculum for Marginalized Youth - Hillary Proctor, Making Cents International

• Scaling Sustainable Education: How a Global Organization Pairs Human-Centered Design with Community Collaboration and Volunteer Technical Assistance to Maximize Impact - Daria Ng, Team4Tech