How has Human-Centered Design Contributed to Youth Engagement in Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Programming?
Human-centered design (HCD) offers a framework to leverage people’s perspectives in a process to solve a specific problem. It focuses on developing empathy to better understand how people experience the problem and its proposed solutions (HCDExchange, 2022). In the last decade, HCD has demonstrated the potential to increase youth engagement in adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) programming by incorporating young people’s perspectives and ideas in developing ASRH solutions. However, there is limited systematic analysis or documentation of the role that HCD has played in promoting youth engagement in ASRH programs. This technical brief addresses that gap by describing how HCD has been employed to enhance youth engagement in the design, implementation, refinement, and evaluation of ASRH programming.
Human-centered design (HCD) offers a framework to leverage people’s perspectives in a process to solve a specific problem. It focuses on developing empathy to better understand how people experience the problem and its proposed solutions (HCDExchange, 2022). In the last decade, HCD has demonstrated the potential to increase youth engagement in adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) programming by incorporating young people’s perspectives and ideas in developing ASRH solutions. However, there is limited systematic analysis or documentation of the role that HCD has played in promoting youth engagement in ASRH programs. This technical brief addresses that gap by describing how HCD has been employed to enhance youth engagement in the design, implementation, refinement, and evaluation of ASRH programming.