About Us
We are a group of Los Angeles design professionals invested in leveraging our work towards the creation of more inclusive environments and connected communities. We aim to support fellow practitioners with our design research and engage in a conversation on the role of designers in the broader changes afoot in our city. Get in touch!
Team: Genevieve Will, Allison Wong
Advisors: Elaine Asal, Olivier Sommerhalder, Chris Jerde, Nambi Gardner
Team: Genevieve Will, Allison Wong
Advisors: Elaine Asal, Olivier Sommerhalder, Chris Jerde, Nambi Gardner
The Human Centered Design Process
We believe nothing should be planned, designed, or developed for people without input from those same people. Enter Human Centered Design (HCD). HCD seems simple - involve those you're designing for in the design process and customize the results to fit their needs. However, communication styles must be adapted to engage different user types. This is an ever moving target, not a one-size-fits-all solution. Nor should HCD be a snapshot of a moment in time. Projects that plan for and implement ongoing user engagement strategies can realign themselves to fit changing needs and as such, are more successful in the long term. Patience and dedication to discovering the best way to engage the users for each single project pay off with unique and surprising design solutions.
Read more:
A Guide to Engaging the Community in Your Project
Ideo's Human Centered Design Toolkit
Read more:
A Guide to Engaging the Community in Your Project
Ideo's Human Centered Design Toolkit
Resources
GENERAL
DESIGNERS
PLANNERS + CITY LEADERS
DEVELOPERS
COUNTERPOINTS
- How Public Spaces Make Cities Work, Amanda Burden
- Project for Public Spaces
- The Trust for Public Land's Park Score
- Habitat III Issue Paper #11: Public Space
- Parks and Public Spaces Make Neighborhoods Safer
DESIGNERS
- Why Designers Should Care About the Mechanics of Mixing
- Inclusion by Design
- Pioneering the Fourth Sector, Gensler Research
PLANNERS + CITY LEADERS
- The Health and Safety Benefits of Parks
- Measuring the Economic Value of a City Park System
- Economic Value of Urban Parks
- A Portrait of California 2014-15
- Economic Development Organizations' Role in Inclusive Growth
- Rethinking Urban Parks - Public Space and Cultural Diversity Setha Low, Dana Taplin, and Suzanne Scheld
DEVELOPERS
- Placemaking Pays Off
- Being within an easy walk of community amenities, such as parks, important to 78% of respondents to the NAR Community & Transportation Preferences Survey
- Integrating aesthetics, recreation, and green infrastructure with homes and jobs "produces economic efficiencies and boosts consumer appeal," says Urban land Institute.
COUNTERPOINTS