Workshop 4 | Design the Right Thing Before You Design the Thing Right: The Psychology of Human-Centred Design
Tracks
Stream D
| Thursday, October 29, 2026 |
| 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM |
| Upper Room D (RG) |
Overview
2 hours
Presenter
Dr Nicholas Duck
Opposite
Design the Right Thing Before You Design the Thing Right: The Psychology of Human-Centred Design
9:00 AM - 11:00 AMAbstract
What happens when a workplace problem cannot be solved by changing individual behaviour alone?
Many of the challenges organisational psychologists work with sit inside complex systems, where behaviour is shaped by technology, work design, organisational pressures, policies and the realities of how work gets done. In these environments, even well-intentioned interventions can fall short if the wider system is not designed around the people using it.
Human-centred design (HCD) offers a practical way to work with this complexity. It starts by understanding people, their work and the context around them, then uses those insights to define the right problem, generate possibilities, and test solutions in practice.
In this interactive workshop, participants will explore what HCD can add to the organisational psychologist’s toolkit through three real-world projects from a safety-critical industry. The projects examine very different challenges: reducing fatigue risk across a complex work system, building safety capability in smaller organisations, and designing AI-assisted technology that people can understand, trust and use appropriately.
Together, these cases show how factors such as scheduling, organisational capability, usability, trust, technology design and work conditions can shape behaviour and outcomes — and why sustainable change often requires us to design the system around people, rather than expecting people to adapt to the system.
Participants will then put the approach into practice. Using the Double Diamond HCD framework, you will work through a live design challenge and prototype an AI-assisted fatigue monitoring interface. Along the way, you will grapple with questions increasingly relevant across workplaces: What would make someone trust an AI-enabled system? What information do people actually need? How do we design technology that supports good judgement rather than getting in its way?
The workshop will also explore the distinctive contribution organisational psychology can make to human-centred design — bringing expertise in behaviour, work design, decision-making, trust and organisational systems into the design process.
Participants will leave with a practical method they can apply to complex organisational challenges across industries, and a fresh perspective on the role psychologists can play in designing better work, systems and technologies.
Many of the challenges organisational psychologists work with sit inside complex systems, where behaviour is shaped by technology, work design, organisational pressures, policies and the realities of how work gets done. In these environments, even well-intentioned interventions can fall short if the wider system is not designed around the people using it.
Human-centred design (HCD) offers a practical way to work with this complexity. It starts by understanding people, their work and the context around them, then uses those insights to define the right problem, generate possibilities, and test solutions in practice.
In this interactive workshop, participants will explore what HCD can add to the organisational psychologist’s toolkit through three real-world projects from a safety-critical industry. The projects examine very different challenges: reducing fatigue risk across a complex work system, building safety capability in smaller organisations, and designing AI-assisted technology that people can understand, trust and use appropriately.
Together, these cases show how factors such as scheduling, organisational capability, usability, trust, technology design and work conditions can shape behaviour and outcomes — and why sustainable change often requires us to design the system around people, rather than expecting people to adapt to the system.
Participants will then put the approach into practice. Using the Double Diamond HCD framework, you will work through a live design challenge and prototype an AI-assisted fatigue monitoring interface. Along the way, you will grapple with questions increasingly relevant across workplaces: What would make someone trust an AI-enabled system? What information do people actually need? How do we design technology that supports good judgement rather than getting in its way?
The workshop will also explore the distinctive contribution organisational psychology can make to human-centred design — bringing expertise in behaviour, work design, decision-making, trust and organisational systems into the design process.
Participants will leave with a practical method they can apply to complex organisational challenges across industries, and a fresh perspective on the role psychologists can play in designing better work, systems and technologies.
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Dr Nicholas Duck is a Doctor of Organisational Psychology and Director of Opposite, a multidisciplinary practice that combines organisational psychology, human factors and human-centred design. His work helps organisations make complex work more workable—by understanding how people actually experience systems, processes and technology, then designing practical improvements with them.
Nick specialises in applying human-centred design to organisational challenges where individual behaviour is only one part of the picture. He brings together expertise in work design, decision-making, usability, trust and organisational systems to help teams define the right problem, test ideas early and create solutions that fit the realities of everyday work.
Across government, infrastructure, energy, construction and other complex environments, Nick has worked with leaders, frontline teams and technical specialists to simplify processes, improve user experience and build capability for sustained change. He is particularly interested in the contribution organisational psychologists can make to designing more intuitive, adaptive and human workplaces.
