Putting users first
The Human-Centred Design Office or HDO puts users at the centre of the work we do. We help you tackle key business problems and improve the services you deliver by designing with and for your users.
We work together as co-leads and apply design thinking, agile and lean methodologies to:
- Do a deep dive into the business problem you are trying to solve
- Help you gain deeper insights into your users and their needs
- Explore and co-create innovative solutions
- Develop prototypes and test with your users – then refine and test again until we get it right
Our clients are saying…
“I’d like to thank you and your team for your great work. This morning’s scrum was honestly the highlight of my day. It feels great to feel supported and validated in what we’re doing (or trying to do, at the very least!!), and we are fortunate to be able to benefit from your expertise and guidance.“
Alexandra LaGroix, Director
Canada Gazette
How we work
First, we meet to discuss your business problem. In some cases, we may conclude you only need guidance in our areas of expertise – problem exploration, user experience, templates and toolkits, prototyping and service design. We will also introduce you to the labs in PSPC’s Digital Innovation Network.
In other cases, the full HDO experience may be the best way to go. A great example is our revamp of the pension portal case study.
Together, we tackle your problem. We bring together a multi-disciplinary team of experts depending on the problem you are solving: user-experience designers, business experts, solutions developers, accessibility experts, IT designers, data experts, enterprise architecture experts.
5 stages of design thinking
Next, we go through the 5 stages of design thinking, a powerful tool to take us from problem to solution:
Empathize
Understand the users’ pain points, challenges and desires based on user research including interviews with your users
Define
Reframe and articulate the problem you want to solve now that you have a better understanding of your users
Ideate
Brainstorm and look at “the art of the possible” to come up with innovative solutions – no idea is too farfetched
Prototype
Build prototypes of the best ideas to test your solutions
Test
Test with your users to find what works and what doesn’t and quickly iterate and improve
Your takeaways after working with us
- a deeper insight into your problem and the user experience
- the right solution
- toolkits, designs, prototypes and test data
- a concept document for funding
- a roadmap to implement
You can apply these innovative new ways of working to tackle future business problems.
Is your initiative right for the HDO?
If you have a business problem you need to solve to improve the services you deliver to your clients, we’d like to hear from you. Just send us an email at ulrich.dorig@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca and we’ll set up a time to chat with you.
We are looking for partners that have an open mindset, want to create an amazing user experience and have the time to collaborate with our team to find the best solution.
