Using user centered perspectives in design - Deepankar Bhattacharyya

 In the negotiation of non-automated tasks and processes in any given system and also to understand the challenges that emanate from outside system boundaries such as the social, cultural, economic, political framework in which the system exists, a nuanced understanding of a variety of people is useful. 

This approach recognizes that any non-automated subsystem becomes alive when the people involved become important components to consider. 

A user centered perspective of such subsystems can look at components and connections as dynamic sets of events, the nature of which is hugely influenced and determined by people within the subsystem interacting with each other and with others such as patients in a hospital who may have a more transient interaction with it. 

While this post does not explore the challenges of discovering and understanding problem areas, it does explore the solution space of discovered problem areas. 

This is especially true in the design of communication, digital, UX and spatial solutions needed for enhancing user experience and easing communication flows within said subsystem as well as outward facing solutions designed for transient users where participation of humans is essential. 

It is easy to see that to design solutions for differently abled individuals, understanding of specific human perspectives is essential. Extend this to children, the illiterate, the culturally different etc. 

Let us explore needs in case of an emergency in a fixed space. 

An auditory alarm will be sufficient for many and will probably reach 99.7+% of very different people which is in the region of standard deviation 3. What is the range of visual alarms needed? How does one design for evacuation flows? 

Similarly one can consider scenarios when a standard deviation of 1 or 2 will suffice and design baskets of solutions that are suitable for different groups within that range.  

This helps us to arrive at an estimate of the range of solutions needed for various tasks. Within such ranges one can fine slice offerings to reach people with more nuanced differences. 

Any set of tasks and processes within this subsystem would require similar consideration and should be worked on in collaboration with other professionals in multidisciplinary teams. 

Will we then find user centered perspectives built on user centered information useful? 

Design notes: 21 November 2025 - Deepankar Bhattacharyya

Design has never been the sole prerogative of us 'designers' who have come to be associated with it at least since the time when 'modernism' started gaining traction.

Engineers design, as do managers. Management organizations are designed as are engineering solutions of all kinds.

The different approaches can be seen in the centricity. Engineers may look at this as technology centric, managers may look at it as activity and organization centric. Other professions would have other kinds of focus. They are all creative problem discovery and solving.

We designers are 'human centric' which is why we are concerned with human values, ergonomics, aesthetics, likes, dislikes, preferences. For us, obviously, technology, organization etc will be in the service of human values, needs, desires, sensibilities.

My colleagues in Engineering design and build wonderful things and what I bring to the table are approaches that make complex engineering solutions intuitively accessible to a 5 year old, a person of special needs or indeed our illiterate companions.

I asked Perplexity to convert this into a poem, this is what it came up with:

Design’s not just for designers alone,
Since modernism’s seed was sown.
Engineers craft with tech as their guide,
Managers shape the flow inside.

Each with a lens distinct, unique,
Technology, tasks, or people they seek.
Design’s a dance of mind and heart,
Creative problem-solving, a collective art.

But we, the designers, hold a sacred trust,
Human-centered values, fairness, and just.
Ergonomics, aesthetics, what people feel,
Bringing simple clarity to complex zeal.

From children’s wonder to needs unseen,
Special friends and those in between,
We make solutions clear and bright,
Making the complex feel just right.

Thus we bridge the worlds apart,
With empathy etched in every part.
Design’s a language, broad and wide,
Where engineers and hearts collide.

@IICDJaipuredu Varta Series : Beyond Business: Design for Social Equity - Deepankar Bhattacharyya

 Prof. Anu Jain, Dean IICD was in conversation with Mr. Deepankar Bhattacharyya on Design for Social Equity. Mr. Deepankar Bhattacharyya is a member of the first under-graduate batch of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. He believes that if we are to effectively negotiate the evolving complexities of our human built world, modern Design has to evolve beyond a stand-alone area of study and practice and must actively collaborate with other fields to create multidisciplinary processes that appreciate holistic views of our world and its infinite diversity.

https://youtu.be/CprS0G2oBpA