100 Principles of Human-Centered Design

‍How might we create a shared language for more responsible, inclusive, and humane design practices?

This work isn’t about defining the way to do human-centered design. It’s about surfacing the common ground we already stand on — and making it easier to talk about the ethics, emotions, and structures that shape our work.

View the full list

We have over 100 Principles that we would love for you to see and read.

We’ve grouped the principles into themes to help people and teams reflect, align, and grow their practice:

🧠 Mindsets & Principles

• Making room for discomfort in order to grow

• Fostering continuous learning

• Leading with humility, not ego

• Embracing ambiguity and seeing failure as part of the process

✊ Inclusion & Equity

• Designing with, not for

• Amplifying marginalised voices

• Making equity a non-negotiable priority

• Ensuring accessibility and co-creation at every step

💜 Emotions & Humanity

• Putting empathy into action

• Designing for dignity and joy

• Treating every interaction as an opportunity for connection

• Valuing lived experience

🧩 Systems & Structures

• Designing for systems, not just problems

• Rethinking power dynamics

• Solving for today, while designing for tomorrow

• Recognising interconnectedness in everything

🔁 Process & Practice

• Turning insights into action

• Prototyping hope, not just solutions

• Learning through doing and unlearning through listening

• Empowering users through iterative involvement

⚡ Power & Participation

• Sharing ownership and redistributing power

• Asking the questions others won’t

• Making space for co-thinking

• Bridging gaps between designer and community

🌱 Sustainability & Responsibility

• Aligning actions with values

• Designing for resilience and long-term trust

• Improving life for all beings, not just users

• Caring for the planet through conscious design

🔍 Trust & Transparency

• Building trust through honesty and simplicity

• Creating clarity in chaotic systems

• Designing safer spaces for dialogue

• Meeting people where they are

📐 Clarity & Simplicity

• Making the complex feel approachable

• Helping people navigate systems

• Balancing creativity with practicality

• Designing tools that empower

🔎 Critique & Reflection

• Challenging assumptions for the greater good

• Respecting boundaries and constraints

• Being accountable for unconscious biases

• Staying open to change — design is never “done”

🎯 Help Us Shape What’s Next

We’ve drafted the content — now we want your input on how this work comes to life.

We’re currently designing how to visually share these principles and how they might be used:

• As a resource for reflection or training

• As conversation starters within teams

• As part of a bigger framework or toolkit

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We’d love your thoughts on:

• Visual style and clarity

• Usefulness in your context

• How you’d want to interact with this (cards? posters? slides? workshop tools?)

This is just the beginning. Help us build something that feels useful, inclusive, and alive.

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📝 Click here to complete the short survey

(Just 1-2 minutes — promise!)

📬 Got thoughts to share directly? Reach us at support@thisishcd.com

Let’s build it together.

– Gerry & the team at This is HCD