The Techfugees community builds technology that contributes to the response of the needs of refugees and displaced persons.
Human Centered Design is not User Centered Design, it goes beyond. It’s not only about putting ourselves in the shoes of the user and understanding their behaviors, it’s all about building empathy. We encourage co-creation with users and understand the emotional state effects of displacement journeys.
Any design and deployment of technology shall use a human-centered design approach, which is a process that starts with refugees and ends with tailored made solutions that suit their needs.
As an innovator, we don’t know what we don’t know. Whether it’s from personal experience or assumptions, we shouldn’t take our beliefs for granted. We want to ask, listen, understand and test at each step of the problem-solving process.
Let’s be mindful of not getting into superficial nor pre-oriented feedback loops but rather build deep empathy with users to avoid biases as much as possible and deliver a real impact.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmM0kRf8Dbk
Ex 1: REFUGEE.INFO started as an app but turned into local Facebook groups following the intervention of displaced persons and taking into account how trust was built. Choosing your format depends on your user and their behavior.
Ex 2: http://humanfirst.tech/ (Digital ID community centered) they put the humanness first and work around the digital identity. They center their work on the marginalized communities and consider the ethics around data and digital identity. Their Motto is "We center people" and try to raise awareness around their approach through organized events, social media and educational materials.