"Amidst our dreams of unlimited scale and frictionless efficiency, the most meaningful connections still happen one human at a time."
– Kai Brach (Dense Discovery)
It would be easy to think that our business is providing digital solutions, building websites, UX/UI, branding and design. We definitely do all of those things, and more. But what if we decided that Studio Veld’s job is simply this: to build meaningful human connections for us and our clients.
Turns out, that’s exactly what we did and it underpins how we make decisions throughout the entire complex journey of a client project. For a fuzzy concept, it makes our job super clear.
Codified as Human-Centred Design, it looks a little like this.
Deeply personal
Understanding that design is subjective and deeply personal. For design to have impact it needs to work at a personal level. Not to be confused with individualised. It's about creating experiences that resonate with humans doing human things. Not just the moment you interact with them, but thinking about the many other things they might be dealing with at the time. And to do that you need to listen deeply to your client and their clients.
More Than Efficiency
We all have a story about how efficiency ruined everything, and that’s because connection trumps efficiency. Sure, we need slick, smooth and fast user processes, but it’s easy to create them and still be way off the mark. Which is why, designing together is so very important. By listening to what people need in a situation the path to prioritising their needs becomes clearer. It's a process that prioritises people over systems and stories over statistics.
For example, not all situations can be dealt with by chatbots. Some require the empathy, understanding and nuance of a human conversation. Particularly, if their wellbeing is at stake. Sometimes it's the quiet pauses that initiate a meaningful connection.
Sensible Scaling
Everyone wants to scale. It’s how you make money. But as long as humans make the buying decision, it's not as straightforward as it sounds. Scaling as well as retaining humanity requires a bit of brain work. How do we design tools, services, and spaces that grow without sacrificing the personal touch? Turns out, if you ask humans - a diverse range of humans - throughout the design process then it's possible to create inclusive human solutions.
Of course, you need to mean it. Intention is everything. Every design decision should be filtered through this question: Does this make the experience more human? It might mean adding a hand-written thank you note to an e-commerce order. It definitely doesn’t mean attempting to replicate humanity with a shallow facsimile.
One vs Many
Each person we design for represents a unique story, perspective and set of needs. By honoring their differences and understanding the common threads of humanity, we can create meaningful and functional solutions. Brands are desperate for impact, and impact needs connection.
Sure, the algorithms are here to stay, but we’re yet to have one engage us for a project. And we’re still waiting for one to pop in for a coffee.
Let’s embrace the challenge of designing for humanity—one connection at a time and create cool stuff together.
