Welcome!
The Human-Centered Design (HCD) Guides are intended to enhance the understanding and practice of human-centered design throughout the federal government. In this guide series, we will explore the four phases of HCD work: discovery, design, delivery, and measurement.
You can think of the HCD Guides like a travel series through design. In the same way you can collect travel guides to Kyoto and Tokyo and Nagasaki instead of a single, lengthy all-Japan travel guide, our HCD Guide series provides two volumes for each phase of the HCD process: a concept guide, focusing on why the phase works the way it does, and an operations guide with checklists and frameworks to help with the how of the phase.
Ready to get started? Check out the guides below!
Featured Resources
-
Introduction to human-centered design
Everything you need to know to get started with our human-centered design series
-
Discovery concepts guide
Explains the “why” behind conducting discovery research
-
Discovery operations guide
Step-by-step guidance on how to conduct discovery research
-
Design concepts guide
Select methods for designing products, services, and systems
-
Design operations guide
How to design solutions based on discovery research
Additional Resources
If you encounter unfamiliar words or concepts in these guides, you can find definitions and explanations in the
You may also wish to review these additional research methods:
- 18F Methods
- NYC Civic Service Design Group Tools & Tactics
- UK Design Group Case Studies
- The Book Apart Series, specifically Design for Real Life by Eric Meyer & Sara Wachter-Boettcher
Header image credit: natrot/iStock via Getty Images
