Human-Centred Design: How TukTuk Puts Community First

TukTalk Issue No. 32 cover showing a woman and children standing together beside a pile of sand

Happy Mother’s Day

May 1, 2020

TukTalk Issue No. 33 cover with an illustration of a man sitting on a chair beside two children

Happy Father’s Day

June 1, 2020

Published by Adrian the Tuk Honcho on May 4, 2020

Human-Centred Design:

How TukTuk Puts Community First

Human-Centred Design:

How TukTuk Puts
Community First

Human-centred design (HCD) is a phrase used often by businesses. Simply put, HCD is about placing people right in the middle of your design process. But what on earth has that got to do with TukTuk? Well… embracing HCD makes our resources relevant. (and its part of our 2020 goals)

For businesses, HCD works because it helps make more money. For TukTuk, HCD works because it helps us help people more effectively.

A TukTuk staff member in an orange shirt shows a teacher a learning app on a tablet

TukBooks and designing from conversations:

Take our TukBooks project for example. On the face of it, we create ordinary storybooks for Khmer children: they’re playful, colourful and educational. However, without HCD there’s no account of the children’s perspective. Each book is highly tailored to language, culture, curriculum and classroom need.

We tailor our TukBooks by talking to local teachers. Why? Because teachers know their classes much better than we do. Using their knowledge, our TukBooks became more effective tools for educating Khmer children.

The insights from local teachers also inform how we develop the TukBook project further. For instance, we’re now creating corresponding lesson plans from each TukBook based on teacher feedback.

We practice HCD with all the preschool resources we create - there’s no point in being tuktucked away in an office because you can’t build the understanding needed.

Schoolchildren in white uniforms colour in worksheets with red pencils at a long classroom table

Insights to improve preschool resources:

This brings us to the most important factor of HCD: Data.

A big goal for 2020 is to compile data across community needs. Numbers can’t do everything but what they can do is show us what is working and what needs adjusting.

“Projects like The Digital Library and AccesBox began with visiting schools. By going into communities we found better ways of bridging the resource gap.”, Adrian, TukTuk founder.

Our Digital Library is a platform designed to host TukTuk’s educational materials. The design challenge was, how do we allow teachers to access it?

By combining the library with the installation of AccessBoxes in schools (a small solar-powered box holding our entire Khmer Resource Bank, including digital books, lesson plans, games, music and more) teachers have access to hundreds of resources online and offline.

…

With HCD powering TukTuk, it’s the teachers who fuel our endeavours and the communities who keep us rolling. It’s the data that shines a headlight onto our understanding of the most effective solutions. But most importantly, it’s human-centred design at the wheel steering us towards a brighter future for kids in Cambodia.