June 2023

Designing A Better World: People-Centered Design For Nonprofit Leaders

Countless non-profits feel like they’re fighting an uphill battle, striving to meet community needs and stay afloat, with limited resources. Without the right approach, making a lasting difference in your community seems elusive at times.

Like any company, non-profits face a wealth of daily challenges. From attracting and retaining donors and generating revenue, to managing staff and volunteers and meeting community needs. But more serious issues lurk beneath the surface, namely, the ongoing struggle to engage communities on a deeper level. Gone are the days when it’s enough to simply claim that your organization is making a difference. To stay relevant, redesigning the way you operate and deliver services is crucial.

And that’s where people-centered design comes in, helping non-profits solve complex challenges while promoting psychological safety for stakeholders, so they feel included, and safe to learn, contribute, and challenge the status quo.

People-centered design is a game-changing approach to non-profit learning and engagement that places your people at the heart of all you do. It’s about co-designing programs with your clients and donors – not for them – to help you increase community engagement as a non-profit. By working with the individuals and families you aim to serve, you can more clearly pinpoint their strengths, goals, and aspirations, and collaboratively outline the blueprint required to achieve them.

Applying people-centered design principles and practices deepens your understanding of your audience through empathizing, listening, and using their feedback to transform the way you serve your community.

Ask yourself:

• Who am I trying to reach?

• What does my organization stand for?

• What does my audience stand for?

• How can I offer more value based on their influence?

Why People-Centered Design?

Putting people first is the most powerful way to make a lasting difference in your community. By far, it will be the sharpest problem-solving instrument in your toolbox, empowering you to create better solutions to bigger problems that you can’t do without your community’s support. Leading with people-centered design helps you redefine your programs based on the needs of the people you serve. Are you ready to serve your community better? You’ll be amazed at how people-centered design will help you:

Build stronger relationships with the people you serve

Destroy silos and embrace more diverse perspectives

Use community outreach to unearth crucial data from the source

Solve tough community challenges through creative approaches that challenge conventional methods

Discover unexpected solutions to improve results

Remove the guesswork from the design and development process

Ensure the important work you do achieves the results you desire

Reimagine Non-Profit Learning & Engagement

At Jonlieu, we firmly believe that human-centered thinking must become the norm for non-profits and the communities they serve. Our programs help non-profits just like yours truly transform communities through the power of people-centered design. If you’re ready to roll up your sleeves, join forces with Jonlieu to initiate lasting change in your community, let’s chat.

CONNECT NOW

Designing Better Learning: People-Centered Design in K-12 Schools

School Principals don’t have it easy. The hundreds of students in your care rely on you and your workforce to prepare them for life in the real world, and you’re under an immense amount of pressure to shape them into the leaders of the future. Improving learning outcomes is crucial, but it’s only half the story.

True education success lies in creating a CULTURE where everyone feels valued, included, safe to contribute, and brave enough to challenge the status quo, all in a world plagued by unpredictability and disruption at every turn.

That’s where people-centered design comes in, a problem-solving tactic that puts your people at the heart of the learning and development (L&D) process. From developing curriculum to shaping your school’s unique culture, human-centric design is about taking the time to understand exactly what your students and educators need, and designing your learning & engagement processes from there.

Dr. Prabhjot Singh once said that we spend so much of our time designing the bridge, but not enough time thinking about the people who will be crossing it. This is the essence of people-centered design, especially in education – the bridge needs to be built with their needs in mind.

To help learners thrive, human-centered designers typically ask three key questions:

1: Why aren’t learners engaged?

2: What problems do we need to solve?

3: How can we meet the needs of the learners we’re solving these problems for?

Why People-Centered Design?

Human-centric design is the best way to turn bored students into engaged and enthusiastic learners. That’s why your people must be a key part of the curriculum- and culture-development process. Education design that keeps people at the core helps you:

Create learning material and EXPERIENCES that meet students where they are

Leverage the ancient power of storytelling to humanize L&D

Stop wasting money, time, and resources on wasteful guesswork

Create a learning & engagement framework that staff can learn and improve upon with time

Use learners’ unique challenges to inform learning & engagement experiences

Use data to understand what’s working (and what’s not) and make relevant changes

Help students learn more effectively and retain knowledge with more ease

Fuel pupils’ curiosity and make learning FUN, without making it distracting

Cater to their unique motivations, challenges, and learning styles

Encourage learners to give their best and avoid boredom and burn-out

Tap into students’ untapped academic, emotional, and social potential

Bring the authenticity of human interaction into the educational arena

Reimagine Learning & Engagement at School

Create Empowering Education Experiences With Jonlieu

When it comes to education, placing humans at the heart of all you do makes all the difference. While many other approaches focus on objectives and milestones, we focus on the experience to help learners thrive beyond the classroom. To learn how Jonlieu can help you bring people-centered design into your school or nonprofit to start improving learning outcomes, start a conversation with our team today.

CONNECT NOW