Human Centered Systems Thinking

People are at the heart of every complex human system—but they’re often the most overlooked.
Effective problem solvers toay know how to visualize the larger dynamics of the system while staying grounded in the needds of people. In this course, I learnedd to combine the analytical tools of systems thinking with the creative mindsets of human-centered design to make sense of complex systems challenges.

I learned to explore mapping tools to identify the right places to focus, surface insights about our stakeholders, and pick the most impactful solutions to experiment with so we can go beyond the obvious and design lasting solutions. 

Skill Sets I learned:

• How to use mapping techniques to make sense of complex situations

• How to reframe problems from different perspectives to spot new opportunities for design

• How to use uncover the needs, challenges, and motivations of the people in your system

• How to use frameworks to pick the most impactful ideas and solutions

• How to approach complex problems in a more holistic and human way to design solutions that can shift the system

How I used these new skills within CAMPS Inc. 1 Program:

• Finding the right problems to solve while working within the complex system of the government and the military is, arguably, the number one challenge our program faces on a daily basis. 

• The first step was to create a “How Might We” statement (aka the “problem I want to solve right now”)

• Identified a “How Might We” problem to solve: “How might we redesign our application that currently reflects a “siloed approach” to mission planning—that involves individual, manual & grassroots techniques—to an application that is holistic and cross-functional for all lines of business, while still being flexible enough to embrace the customized workflows each user may need to fulfill their tasks & responsibilities?”

• The second step was to identify our stakeholders in our complex system.

This work is behind an NDA