Designing with empathy
8D specializes in social design, leveraging design methodologies to tackle challenges in research, healthcare, education and many other fields. We focus on human-centered challenges and translating theoretical insights into practical solutions.
Social design without fuss
Social design and co-creation are common buzzwords that (unfortunately) too often lead to projects without tangible results; a status quo that we, as a hands-on team, do not accept. At the same time, we strongly believe in the power of human-centered design. That’s why we took matters into our own hands and developed our own approach to design-driven innovation.
Over the past decade, our team has refined the best practices from the multitude of design-driven methods into a streamlined approach. By keeping the strengths, eliminating unnecessary frills, and adding a healthy dose of pragmatism, we’ve created a robust process that consistently delivers concrete, impactful results.
The 8 steps of 8D
for impactful design
1. Empathize
In an interactive session with partners, domain experts, experience experts and end users, we create a deep understanding of all perspectives on the problem. In what we call a “problem storm,” we make sure all voices are heard. All you have to do is make sure the right people are at the table.
2. Define
We collect, test and refine the outcomes of the Empathise phase. Was the problem as we thought, or does the objective of the intervention need some adjustment? We clearly define the user needs and project frameworks in a clear document so that we can develop in a goal-oriented way.
3. Ideate
Our team develops creative concepts that meet established user needs and project frameworks. During a concept shootout, we analyze the strengths and weaknesses together, then reduce the ideas to a winning concept for further development.
8. Implement
For all our interventions, we strive for independent deployment. By this we mean that the materials must be able to continue to exist even without our involvement. Not because we don’t want to implement – quite the contrary. We simply know that this design framework leads to significantly more effective and sustainable interventions.
4. Specify
Anyone who wants to keep a complex project on track must plan and concretize. After pitching and testing the concept, we create an execution plan with milestones, budget distribution and times when input from you or the target audience is needed. This is how we keep the momentum going and ensure that the result does not get stuck in the concept phase.
7. Test
We merge all the content into a complete intervention with accompanying assurance materials. Our team tests internally that all components are functioning properly and can be deployed independently with the manuals. We identify and resolve any issues so that the intervention is ready for use by the (end) users.
6. Materialize
In the “concretization” phase, we created a detailed implementation plan, allowing the production phase to proceed smoothly without unnecessary consultation or ambiguity. Everyone knows who makes what and why. In addition to production, 8D coordinates and facilitates this phase so that everything stays on schedule.
5. Prototype
With as few resources as possible, we develop a version of the intervention that allows us to test its potential (both in terms of operation and assurance). We also conduct a component analysis in this phase: what parts does the intervention consist of and how do they interact with each other?
“In each step of our process, we go through a full design cycle: empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test. Thus, in each step we find an answer to the question: how can we deliver the most value – within the project framework – in this phase of the research?”
Examples of social design in research
Explore our flagship cases: inspiring research projects that have delivered meaningful outcomes for both the research team and society.
The added value of design-driven research
An intervention is successful only when there is a perfect balance between the user, the form, and the context in which it is applied. Explore the value of design in our in-depth article on the key characteristics of design-driven research.
Monthly Q&A
All about researching with social design
Curious about how to effectively integrate social design and iterative development into your research proposal?
We regularly help researchers refine their proposals and secure funding. If you’re working on a grant application and could use some advice, join our free online Q&A session held every third Friday of the month. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions and gain insights.
Sign up via johan@8d.nl and receive the time and dial-in link. Do you have specific questions or topics you would like to discuss? Feel free to add them to your sign-up email.
