{"id":4034,"date":"2025-03-20T15:01:59","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T14:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.francescopelliccia.com\/hri\/?p=4034"},"modified":"2025-07-11T15:33:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T13:33:58","slug":"human-centered-design-and-ux-for-hcm-platforms-what-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrintelligence.it\/en\/human-centered-design-and-ux-for-hcm-platforms-what-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"Human Centered Design and UX for HCM platforms: what opportunities?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can an interface, experience, or product be designed directly from the user&#8217;s needs, preferences, and desires?<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><b>In the HR context, Human Centered Design (HCD) <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">seeks to answer these questions through the use of proven frameworks, such as that of <\/span><b>Design Thinking<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, that start with consumer needs and help come up with ideas to quickly prototype, and facilitate the transition to the distribution and commercialization stages of the products or experiences that are the subject of the design process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is an approach that we as HRI have taken by working alongside a Software House in redesigning Organizational Development <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrintelligence.it\/piattaforme-sviluppo-organizzativo-user-centric\/\"><b>process management platform.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Developed and popularized <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designcouncil.org.uk\/our-resources\/the-double-diamond\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>by the British Design Council in 2005<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the Double Diamond model has become <\/span><b>one of the most popular and recognized in design thinking and user-centered design <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to represent the design and problem-solving process in a structured way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The goal was to provide a common language to enable professionals and organizations to collaborate and address complex challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This model has <\/span><b>4 distinct phases<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: these phases (see Figure 1) <\/span><b>alternate between a divergent character (discovery, ideation) and a convergent character (definition, implementation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All 4 phases <\/span><b>are repeated in a <\/b><b>cyclically<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">until a solution is identified that satisfies all stakeholders involved in the process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As can Figure 1 shows, the model representation consists of two diamonds side by side.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>first diamond <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Discover &amp; Define) is devoted to <\/span><b>understanding the problem<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>second diamond <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Develop &amp; Deliver) focuses on <\/span><b>solution design.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Going into more detail, the phases of the double diamond model are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Discovery <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(<\/span><b><i>Discover<\/i><\/b><b>): <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">starting from the identified problem or challenge, a lot of information inherent to the challenge or problem is collected as objectively as possible (observations or statistical data may be used, as well as interviews)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Definition <\/b><b><i>(Define<\/i><\/b><b>): <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">all collected data are processed by defining their priority level for the challenge or problem at hand. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This step narrows the field and focuses on the &#8220;real problem to be solved.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Ideation and Prototyping (<\/b><b><i>Develop<\/i><\/b><b>): <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">once the problem is understood, this phase aims to identify as many possible solutions without regard to their feasibility. These solutions will be detailed and refined in order to create a prototype that is intended to give an idea of the final solution, without obviously possessing all the specifications (this is the concept of <\/span><b>Minimum Viable Product <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;MVP&#8221;)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Implementation (<\/b><b><i>Deliver<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">): Testing on the prototype made directly with the user, in order to validate the solution and also its implementation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Human Centered Design for the evolution of HCM suites: enhancing the Employee Experience?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A concept certainly tangential to Human Centered Design is represented by the acronym UX (<\/span><b>User Experience<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), which <\/span><b>refers to the overall experience of a user during interaction with a product<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, service or interactive system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like HCD, UX provided us with an important reference framework in a recent project experience where we supported a software house in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrintelligence.it\/piattaforme-sviluppo-organizzativo-user-centric\/\"><b>redesigning their management platform.<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">development process\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Far from being exclusively web-related<\/span><b>, UX has now fully entered the HR galaxy, and is an effective guide for shaping and structuring <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the so-called <\/span><b>touchpoints<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, i.e., the different points of contact between the employee and the company itself, in <\/span><b>the best possible way.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This role acquired by UX and Human Centered Design methodologies is particularly evident in the evolution that <\/span><b>Human Capital Management cloud platforms <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are undergoing, examined in a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gartner.com\/doc\/reprints?id=1-2J5XFWK9&amp;ct=241023&amp;st=sb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>recent in-depth study edited by Gartner <\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(October 2024).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the U.S. firm, the market for cloud HCM suites is now poised <\/span><b>for transformative change <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that will lead to improvements in productivity and decision-making on human capital issues.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In particular, major suite providers plan to significantly improve the user experience within platforms through substantial investments in AI and Genai technologies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, Gartner assures that by 2027, employees will initiate 30 percent of all interactions under the HCM suite through natural language commands, through the constant support of an AI assistant.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To classify the extent of these improvements and evolutions, the U.S. consulting giant made a <\/span><b>matrix divided into the 4 quadrants<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, within which it placed the <\/span><b>major players in the HCM suites market<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, based on two dimensions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><b> Ability to Execute: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">considers the breadth and ease of use of HR functionality offered by the vendor, the integration between different components of the suite, and the ability to use mobile and social technologies. In addition, the dimension also considers the vendor&#8217;s ability to ensure product continuity, including support for current and future versions. Finally, sales effectiveness, ability to adapt to changes in the market, and investments in continuous product improvement are also important.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b> Completeness of Vision: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This considers market understanding, marketing and sales strategy, and product vision, with focus on emerging technologies and digital transformation, but also on developing human-centered solutions within suites.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The vendor must demonstrate a clear and sustainable business model, and a targeted strategy for different market segments. It must also show UX and UI improvements, such as conversational chatbots and virtual assistants.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The intersection of the two dimensions generates the four quadrants of the matrix in <\/span><b>Figure 2<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which represent the different levels of maturity of the major HCM suite providers, based on the two dimensions we have reported: <\/span><b>Leaders<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with a strong vision and operational capability; <\/span><b>Challengers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with a solid presence but less consistent continuity of execution; <\/span><b>Visionaries<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, highly innovative but with limitations in execution; and <\/span><b>Niche Players<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, focused on specific segments of the market, with more limited functionality.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can an interface, experience, or product be designed directly from the user&#8217;s needs, preferences, and desires?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-and-development"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hrintelligence.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/human-centered-design-design-thinking.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrintelligence.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrintelligence.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrintelligence.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrintelligence.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrintelligence.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4034"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hrintelligence.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4201,"href":"https:\/\/hrintelligence.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4034\/revisions\/4201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrintelligence.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrintelligence.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrintelligence.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrintelligence.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}