P A R T N E R W I T H T H E H C D L A B T O
Tackle a Challenge
Why Partner?
There are many of reasons why you might want to partner with the Human-centered Design Lab (HCD Lab) on a challenge. You get to connect with and tap into the creativity of a diverse group of professionals. In short, you get free expertise and support in tackling one of your challenges. In return, the HCD Lab gets to host an event/series of events, tackling a real challenge with the potential for real world impact. The HCD Lab community also gets to learn from your subject matter expertise and get a window into your industry and work.
Each of our events is built around a framework or method that we teach and facilitate activities around. This is good for you, because we can choose frameworks and methods that seem appropriate for tackling your challenge.
You
Diverse perspectives and ideas from a wide range of professionals
Real world challenges and
subject matter expertise
What Types of Challenges?
The HCD Lab isn't a consultancy, it is a community of diverse professionals that gather through events. As a result, there are unique constraints when partnering with us. There are two types of challenges that account for the HCD Lab's constraints and can unlock the potential of this kind of community:
A challenge where lots of diverse ideas would be valuable
A challenge where diverse perspectives in evaluating something would be valuable (e.g. a product, service, physical space, etc.)
What Might an Event Look Like?
A workshop we hosted with a Smithsonian museum and Design Thinking:DC provides a great example. The design director of the National Museum of American history brought a challenge to reimagine one of their museum entrances. He wanted ideas for how he might make the entrance an integral part of the museum experience. Evan Chan (a service designer), Fabiola Yurcisin (an urban planner), and Karen Hold (director of DT:DC), designed a hands-on workshop built around a powerful placemaking framework. Through this workshop, a diverse group of 18 professionals produced a list of creative, compelling ideas that the design director was excited to share with his team to implement.
Interested? Let's talk!
We're always looking for organizations to partner with! Consider a few challenges that the HCD Lab might be able to support you in tackling and we can discuss hosting an event together!