What would human-centered design really look like? Is that what we really need? — Hello Marc, I have heard you say that you don’t think you have ever seen real human-centered design. Is that true? What do you mean when you say that? Hello Shino, Yes I think sometimes I say that when I am feeling grumpy about the typical (in my experience) corporate practice…

Serving movement toward new ways of working together — Dear Marc, I have one more question, about you personally. Your business focus has shifted from the area of digital design to a much wider area for facilitating change in groups and organizations. I know that you conduct retreats as well as workshops. …

Things paradigm or people paradigm? — Hello Marc. I want to ask you something else. You have, over the years, introduced to the Japanese audience design leaders of big enterprises — -such as Greg from GE and Phil from IBM, who came to Japan as guest speakers and gave companies insight and ideas for implementing HCD…

We can’t implement maturity, we can only nurture it. — Dear Marc, I have a fourth question to ask you. Through this book, I want to help managers and company leaders understand what HCD management is about, but I also discuss how HCD is something that everyone in the organization/company needs to commit to. …

Separation from nature is our inheritance — Dear Marc, I have heard that in the United States, when people hear the word “HCD,” there are some who associate the human-centeredness with being in conflict with nature, and fear that this concept will lead to the destruction of the nature around us. The Japanese, on the other hand, have…

January 2021 Dear Marc, The theme for this book is HCD management. What are your impressions when you hear the term “HCD management”? Hello Shino, I have mixed feelings about this, because my experience with “HCD management” in organizations has not always been positive. …

Attention to the world, reflection and making, open to being changed by the process — Dear Marc, I understand the core concept of HCD as: 1. Finding problems from the user’s standpoint, 2. Realizing solutions to those problems, 3. Constantly moving back and forth between 1 and 2. I also believe these are common to various fields — UX, Design Thinking, and Service Design and…

Notes from a mess — June 2022 Essays on human-centered design for managers in Japan: why? The essays in this collection are different than what I would write to the design profession in the US in 2022. I wrote them in 2020, speaking to (my limited understanding of) hierarchical corporate management in Japan. …

Using a “collective story harvest” to help a group practice listening to people unlike themselves — In April of 2018, the City of Pittsburgh held its annual Inclusive Innovation Week for Pittsburgh non-profit leaders, government staff, artists, activists, community leaders and anyone else who wants to better include everyone who is affected by their work, their decisions, their way of life. …