Design Thinking for HR: Key Terms and Definitions
I know we use a lot of jargon in design thinking which can be confusing for beginners, so I thought I’d provide you with an overview of some of the key terms and definitions that I’ll explore in my book. I’ll add recommended readings for each in case you’d like to dive deeper into a topic. [Note: This is an article I just wrote for my Design Thinking for HR Book Early Readers’ Community and thought you might find it valuable as well…]
Design Thinking for HR Glossary
Behavioral Design
Behavioral design is the process of designing and optimizing an experience by employing insights and techniques from behavioral science. In other words, behavioral science can become a lens that’s applied along the design thinking process.
Learn More:
- Cash, P., Vallès Gamundi, X., Echstrøm, I., & Daalhuizen, J. (2022). Method use in behavioural design: What, how, and why? International Journal of Design, 16(1), 1–21.
Design Justice
Design justice is an approach to design that is led by marginalized communities and that aims explicitly to challenge, rather than reproduce, structural inequities.
Learn More:
- Costanza-Chock, S. (2020). Design Justice — Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need. Cambridge, MA. The MIT Press.
Employee Experience
Employee experience is the perception an employee has about the sum of their interactions at work — daily, weekly, yearly, and over the course of their career.
Learn More:
- Grover, A. & Chawla, G. (2022). “Antecedents of Employee Experience: A Systematic Review of Literature.” Management Dynamics: Vol. 22: №2, Article 2: 90–100
Employee Experience Journey Mapping
Employee Experience Journey Mapping helps us visualize, analyze, and improve aspects of the employee experience.
Learn More:
- Dessain, N. (2022). “What is Employee Experience Journey Mapping?” Design Thinking for HR LinkedIn Newsletter. June 15, 2022.
Inclusive Design
Inclusive design considers the full range of human diversity with respect to ability, language, culture, gender, age, and other forms of human difference.
Learn More:
- Inclusive Design Research Centre: What is inclusive design?
Liberatory Design
Liberatory design is an approach to addressing equity challenges and change efforts in complex systems.
Learn More:
- National Equity Project: Introduction to Liberatory Design.
Moments that Matter
“Moments that Matter” refer to key events or stages in an employee’s lifecycle with an organization that have a profound effect on their overall experience and relationship with the company.
Learn More:
- Heath, C. & Heath, D. 2017. The Power of Moments — Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact. New York. Simon & Schuster.
Service Design
Service Design is a user-centered approach that involves the planning and organizing of resources (people, props, and processes) to directly improve the employee’s and customer’s experience, and the overall service quality. It applies design thinking mindsets and human-centered design methods.
Learn More:
- Stickdorn, M., and Schneider, J. 2011. This is Service Design Thinking. Hoboken, New Jersey. Wiley.
Systemic Design
Systemic design is a discipline that joins systems thinking to design methodology.
Learn More:
- Systemic Design Association: Systemic Design.
Trauma-Informed Design
Trauma-informed design acknowledges the prevalence of trauma, including in the workplace. Trauma-responsive design actively anticipates the potential existence of trauma so that it can be appropriately and ethically addressed at all levels and at all stages of the design process.
Learn More:
- Dietkus, R. (2022). The Call for Trauma-Informed Design Research and Practice. Design Management Review, 33(2), 26–31.
I am curious: Was this helpful? What other Design Thinking for HR terms and concepts would you like to learn more about? Just drop them in the comments.
Note: This article was originally published as part of the Design Thinking for HR LinkedIn Newsletter.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Design Thinking for HR is a biweekly LinkedIn newsletter that aims to inspire HR professionals to experiment with the human-centered design framework. The newsletter is curated by Nicole Dessain who is a talent management and employee experience leader, founder of the HR.Hackathon Alliance, and a Northwestern University instructor. Nicole is currently writing her first book about Design Thinking for HR. Join the Early Readers’ Community here.
