If your work involves leading change today, you know that nothing happens in a vacuum. You're likely part of a lean team tasked with driving cultural shifts across complex, multi-unit organizations. And here's the challenge we all face: involving users requires time, which can be difficult for people in operational roles.
Human-centered design can be front-heavy, meaning more time is spent in the beginning. Some people might find this hard to understand. But with positive experiences, people tend to accept the process more readily. And here's what I've learned from my work—from building service design competency in China to leading transformation programs: in general, using these approaches improves the success rate of initiatives. It ensures we are solving the right problem in the right way.
My background is in engineering, and that's shaped how I look at change. Essentially, any new value creation—whether it's a product, process, or something else—requires understanding its impact. That has been a key theme throughout my career, especially in the past years working with transformation.
From my perspective, human-centered and service design are user-centric and iterative processes. The key is always to consider the user's perspective and iterate rather than follow a linear pipeline.
Let me give you a concrete example. If we want to handle customer cases more efficiently, we touch on people, processes, and tools. Introducing a new role into a team might sound like a good idea, but through discussion and using these methods, you might discover that another solution is much better from the users' perspective.
I use these principles in everything, big and small—whether implementing practices within a team or leading a large global change initiative. The approach often starts with the users and should continue iteratively through all phases.
For example, using service design, we might create a service blueprint, which is valuable for making a process more user-centric and spotting gaps.
The service blueprint is especially useful because it maps the front stage and backstage elements, ensuring we start with the user. It aligns with lean thinking and is an excellent communication tool across stakeholders, especially in cross-functional teams.
In complex organizations—those with multiple regional companies or a global matrix—the service blueprint helps bring everyone together on the same page, ensuring that stakeholders from IT, HR, and Operations understand both what the employee experiences and the processes and tools supporting them.
I'll be honest: one challenge is that human-centered design can be front-heavy, meaning more time is spent in the beginning. Another challenge is that involving users requires time, which can be difficult for people in operational roles. But with positive experiences, people tend to accept the process more readily.
I can't think of specific scenarios where service design isn't useful, but in some top-down cultures or simpler changes, it might be more efficient to just implement the solution. But for more complex or human-centered initiatives, service design adds a lot of value.
I always consider the context when facilitating any session or process, pulling from my knowledge of service design. Trust-building and creating a safe space are essential before moving on to the collaboration phase. I always try to adapt the process based on the number of participants and the session goals.
From my personal experience, a combination of using the tool for input collection—both synchronous and asynchronous—works really well. It's effective when you gather input through the platform and then hold workshops to build on those ideas. This allows for rich interaction between participants, where they can contribute and build on each other's ideas. It also ensures that people from different time zones can participate, which makes the process more inclusive.
I've used Howspace in a team context and in programs I've managed. One example is a competitive development package we co-created with users, involving them in all phases of the process. It was an excellent example of iterative development.
Being part of this community is great. Everyone I've met has been such professional and experienced people. I think one of the biggest benefits is the opportunity to learn from each other. You can share your challenges, and it helps to realize you're not alone in facing these problems.
At a networking lunch, for example, I even got some solutions and new ideas from the discussions, which was amazing. It's such a valuable way to gain insight into what's happening in the world. You meet people who are thinking about these same things, which makes it feel like the right moment to bring everyone together and really accelerate learning as a group.
If you want to successfully apply human-centered design approaches, there are three critical mindsets:
The first and most important mindset is being genuinely user-centric. It's not just about asking users for input—it's about truly considering their perspective in every decision.
You need to be curious—both about what people are saying and about the methodology. Listen to what people are actually saying, not just what you want to hear. Stay curious about new methods and approaches.
Finally, you need to be open to failing smart—testing ideas, iterating, and being flexible. Don't follow a rigid pipeline. Test, gather feedback, and be willing to change course.
While we see a trend toward making workplaces and transformation initiatives more human-centered, these ideas aren't new. We're just now starting to apply them in different contexts. I believe involving users in every phase of change is crucial to success.
I see a push toward inclusivity and collaboration, where people want more impact on their work lives. New technologies, like AI, will also play a big role in scaling data collection and analysis, allowing us to engage with larger audiences and make sense of data faster.
Want to learn more? There are great books and frameworks, for example from Strategyzer. I also recommend the Service Design Show, which features inspiring practical cases. And, of course, joining the community, attending the sessions and engaging with others in the field is invaluable.
This article was written by Eeva Martonen, Transformation Program Lead at KONE. Eeva specialises in agile program governance and customer-centric value creation, with broad experience in service design, cross-cultural management, and end-to-end solution development across international organisations.
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