Applying Human-Centered Design to Human Services: Pilot Study Findings

Human-Centered Design (HCD) is a process and a mindset for addressing complex problems by designing solutions with those who will ultimately use the solution (i.e., end users). Because of its inherent focus on end users or recipients of services, HCD appears to have potential for promoting effective, efficient, and compassionate service delivery that is aligned with the mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

In 2018, ACF’s Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) initiated the Human-Centered Design for Human Services (HCD4HS) project to explore the viability of HCD in addressing the complex problems facing public sector human services programs. This project included a review of the knowledge base to define HCD and describe how it has been used and evaluated in the human services context, and a pilot study to evaluate the implementation of HCD, with a focus on assessing its evaluability. This report presents the findings from this pilot study.