This Human

There are many great design books in existence that teach us about design process, tools and methods. With the increasing popularity of design thinking and human-centred design we’ve also seen more material discussing various aspects of the practice. One missing aspect, almost in an ironic twist, is what it takes to be the actual person who is doing the designing.

The name ‘This Human’ is referring to that person. The person who needs to observe to gain insight, to make sense of their observations in a way that isn’t biased by their own world views. The person who needs to communicate in many different ways with many different intentions to communicate information which is often hard to access, difficult to grasp and just not that tangible. The person who is so passionate about having a positive impact they become exhausted one third of the way into their project. This book helps these people to learn more about themselves and how to think and be in their practice of design—to help them grasp all that is going on inside that then influences their creations.

Author

Dr. Melis Senova is a pioneer in human-centred design, a founder of her own global strategic design consultancy, Huddle, and a highly-regarded and enterprising thought leader. Her vast business experience, underpinned by a PhD in Human
Factors (human-centred design), sees her focused on reshaping the super systems of the future. This reshaping is essential to ensure we address the complex challenges facing humanity and the planet. Melis believes we can change our realities by changing our minds.

Melis is also the founder of Huddle Labs, a research capability innovating the definition of value in a post-capitalist society, Huddle Academy, a school focussed on building creative problem solving capabilities for individuals and organisations and Huddle Foundation, a platform that curates the connection between designers, philanthropists and social enterprises.

Melis is a member of Creative Victoria’s Creative State Advisory Board, a member of the Victorian State Government’s Innovation Expert Panel, and a member of the advisory board for A Vision for Australia—a series of Annual Economic Summits hosted by Global Access Partners.

Press

"Chapters survey communication essentials, consider connections between the human capacity for choice, freedom, and expression and the interpersonal associations that affect design structure and choices, and discuss how to narrow artistic purpose in the face of distractions. A visual approach throughout makes it easy to understand these fundamentals of 'design thinking,' which are often missing from design books."
- donovansliteraryservices.com

“This reshaping is essential to ensure we address the complex challenges facing humanity and the planet.”
- designresearchportal.com

Quote

'Dr Senova knows what she's talking about. Here's a book you can treasure, savour and revisit at every stage of your creative life.'
Marty Neumeier -Director of Transformation at Liquid Agency and best selling author of The Brand Gap, The Brand Flip and ZAG.