EDVF: Beyond Human-Centred Design

Last month I was lucky enough to sit in a training session run by the legendary Grace Turtle Polifroni, the topic was Experimental Futures. During the session, as Grace does, she challenged us to think beyond human-centred design, beyond being human-centric in the decisions we make.

This got me thinking, in teaching Human-Centred Design to so many people in the corporate space, one of the biggest drivers of change in that world is the framework DVF, or Desirability, Viability, Feasibility.

Companies traditionally think solely about the viable and the feasible, and new age, customer-centred organisations think about the desirability element first. What do our customers (or potential customers) desire, and then work out how to make that viable and feasible, so the driver of this change is the desirability element, rather than cost-cutting or resource hoarding.

With the world in the state it’s in, we need another driver of change. I live in New South Wales in Australia where bushfires have devastated homes and large swathes of land, including national parks and native flora and fauna). We need a driver that helps our thinking move beyond just human-centric, one that takes into account the world we live in.

My initial thinking was adding in sustainability, but that means so many things to so many people. Sustainable could easily be construed as financial sustainability, so I won’t go there.

After talking at length with Lauren Tan and Liz Soutar, ecological (the E) is where I landed. It’s basically Desirability, but for the planet.

When making decisions, when designing new products or services, when changing things in the business world, use EDVF.

The planet first, then people, business, technology.

1. Ecological, how can we create something that fits into the ecological world around it, that is good for the planet
2. Desirable, what is desirable for people
3. Viable, what is financially viable for your business
4. Feasible, what can we feasibly achieve with technology and resources

Companies with an eco-conscience are already starting to do this, the circular economy, zero-waste, and other initiatives help guide this ecological mindset. But these are organisation-wide initiatives where a company has decided to become ecological, typically because they have a backlash from the public, or they have a CEO who genuinely cares and has the power to drive that organisations decision making. Whatever the case for adopting an ecological approach, it’s good for the world.

But how can individuals drive this kind of change? Just like ten years ago when DVF helped create a groundswell of change-makers flip organisations into customer-centricity, EDVF will help the same, and another, group of change-makers adopt an ecological approach across the business world.

Write this down, EDVF.

Ask yourself these questions,

• Is your solution ecological?
• How does your solution interact with organisms (other than humans) in the area that it operates or exists?
• Does your solution impact population numbers of organisms
• Does your solution impact the habitat of these organisms
• How does your solution impact the environment these organisms live within, from an ecosystem point of view, what does it take, what does it give back?
• For the things that it takes from the ecosystem, what is losing out because of the diminishing resources?
• For the things it gives back, or leaves behind, what is using these things, does it fit naturally?
• Is there extra processing required before your waste product can be integrated into the ecology.
• Are any species within the ecology given an advantage over others due to your solution?
• What chemicals or microparticles exist in the ecology before and after your solution is implemented?

There will be many more questions one needs to ask in this space, as there are with Desirability. Human-Centred Design is still forging new ground and is absolutely critical in the business world. We must use HCD as a foundation, and for the sake of the planet, go a bit beyond it, thinking about ecology.

Viability and feasibility have over a century of research, of methods, of frameworks and case studies attached to them.

2020 will be the year that all organisations across the globe adopt an ecological point of view. They are asking themselves how what they do impacts the earth and the non-human inhabitants of it.

Some will have a clear path to change.

EDVF is for those where things aren’t as clear. It’s a starting point, and certainly not going to reveal anything that will be easy to fix or change or drive towards. Just like the introduction of ambiguity with HCD, thinking about ecology will introduce ecosystem complexity that will require expertise from the sciences, chemistry, biology, and physics. This is where the S in STEM will shine.

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