What is a human-centred design?

Human-centred design has become a buzzword in high-risk industries. But what really is a human centric design?

Last week I had the chance to walk a labyrinth with a group of people during a conference in St. John’s, NFL. Labyrinths have existed across cultures and civilisations for centuries and they serve as one of the most powerful motifs of a human-centric design. The sheer experience of walking a labyrinth is so humanising. As we walk the labyrinth, we learn to connect with our own bodies, those around us and the nature.

You enter clockwise from the one side towards the centre and you exit outwards anti-clockwise. That way, the design engages both the left brain and the right brain and in so doing, we learn to balance intuitive knowing with rational thinking. If your mind is cluttered, the labyrinth walk will bring clarity and perspective. If you have a question that is troubling you, you will have an answer during or after the walk and sometimes even in a dream.

Like all intelligent designs, everything has a meaning. Walking towards the centre brings you to a heightened state of awareness, calm, and stillness within. The circuits confuse you but if you keep going you will reach the centre. You are both lost and discovered during the walk. That is such a human experience.

Walk slow, fast or at a pace that suits you. Walk alone or within a group of people. Slowing down enhances our perception and walking in a group attunes us with others around us. There are many twists and turns in the labyrinth – a beautiful metaphor for learning and living.

And how is this human-centric?

At the time when so many people report sick at work, suicides and mental health issues are at their peak, people get so easily distracted at work, here’s one of humanity’s most powerful archetypes of human thought.

I can imagine a labyrinth on a ship’s deck (or hospital, oil rig, factory or school) where people can take a walk each day to calm their minds, think holistically and bring focus in their lives and at work. And how about walking the labyrinth as a team before the start of a high-risk activity?

It is unfortunate that so much of design thinking is dominated by a mindless search for efficiency reducing everything to measurement, matter and simple solutions that would dumb people down. More alarms, warnings, barriers, checks and controls only creating more frictions, stress, fatigue, frustration and bureaucracy for its own sake.

Here’s a centuries old human-centred design that elevates consciousness, enhances wellness, and brings clarity in our lives.

Don’t believe me. Find a labyrinth close to you and go on a walk. .