This is HCD: Human-Centred Design, UX & Service Design

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The Service Design Global Conference 2026 (SDGC26) takes place 28-30 October in Frankfurt RheinMain region - onsite and online. Get 10% off by using 'HCDSDGC10' at checkout

*New* Listen to Marc Stickdorn's new podcast https://www.smaply.com/podcast
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Full disclosure before we start. I'm one of the speakers at the event, alongside people like Lou Downe, Manjari Sahu, Simon Goff, and designers from Airbus, Bosch, IKEA, Roche, Frog and the Government of Alberta. So yes, I have skin in the game. But I want you to hear why I said yes so quickly, because this is not a conference production company parachuting into a city. This came from the community in Barcelona, after the conference they had for years came to an end, and a group of practitioners decided they were not going to let it disappear.

We also tried something a little bit novel in this episode. We used AI to generate the questions, and then let the conversation run wherever it wanted to go. Itziar tells me at one point that our friend the AI got a question wrong, which was, I think, the best possible outcome.

Before we jump in, here are three things to listen out for.

First, AI is not the only thing disrupting us, and it might not even be the biggest thing. Itziar makes the point that human-centredness and customer-centricity were the previous hype, and that hype is over. Organisations have moved on, agency models are under real pressure, and a lot of us are now learning what it feels like to work in a field that is no longer the shiny thing in the room. AI is part of the story. It is not the whole story.

Second, service design needs its punk moment. Itziar is brilliantly honest about how we lost credibility. We turned up to serious, decades old problems acting as if the world had started yesterday, as if a couple of workshops and a bit of research would sort it. The people in the room with you, the actuaries, the underwriters, the risk engineers, are experts in their own right, and we need to stop behaving like an alien species waiting politely for a brief.

Third, nobody is going to answer the big question for you. Itziar refuses to give one definition of what service design should fight for, because she does not think there is one. Are you a cog helping the organisation make money, or a force trying to transform it? Both positions are in the room at this conference on purpose. The work is deciding where you actually stand, and whether the place you stand is one you can make a living in and still feel something for.

There is a discount code for Service Design Disrupted in the show notes, and it stacks with whatever pricing is live on the site. Right, let's jump straight in. This is my conversation with Itziar Pobes. 

Enjoy.

• https://sddisrupted.com/

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BECOME A DIRECTORY MEMBER (IT'S FREE!) and get all of this

→ FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion (Sign up for free with an email)
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→ Discover & Connect with others https://www.thisishcd.com/directory
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Gerry wears clothes from Sutsu, and has a coupon code for them, as well as Smaply, Scenario Cards, Unit 1 and more...
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All episodes have been produced by This is Podcasting. 

SPONSORED ADS
The Service Design Global Conference 2026 (SDGC26) takes place 28-30 October in Frankfurt RheinMain region - onsite and online. Get 10% off by using 'HCDSDGC10' at checkout

*New* Listen to Marc Stickdorn's new podcast https://www.smaply.com/podcast
________________________

When Intopia was founded 10 years ago, accessibility was largely a compliance exercise that leaned on fear more than encouragement. Sarah Pulis has spent her career turning it into something people actually want to do.

In this episode of This is HCD, Hyun Song sits down with Sarah, co-founder and director of Intopia, and the force behind communities like A11y Bytes and A11y Camp. They explore why compliance alone never delivers real outcomes, how AI can both proliferate barriers and help remove them, why culture deserves its own place alongside governance and process, and how starting small and building community is often what makes accessibility finally stick.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• 2025 Assistive Technology Survey overview: https://surveys.intopia.digital/assistive-technology-survey-2025-results/
• 2026 Global Accessibility Pulse: https://intopia.digital/global-accessibility-pulse-2026/
• Figma Make accessibility trial and resources:
  • https://intopia.digital/articles/building-accessibility-into-figma-make-prototypes/
  • https://intopia.digital/articles/testing-accessibility-in-our-figma-make-skill/
• Intopia's Resources page: https://intopia.digital/resources/

Connect with Sarah:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahpulis

This is HCD is hosted by Gerry Scullion. This special series on inclusive design and accessibility is guest hosted by Hyun Song.

________________________
BRING THIS IS HCD INTO YOUR ORGANISATION

→ Train my organisation https://www.thisishcd.com/training
→ Video Courses https://www.thisishcd.com/courses
→ Coaching Community (Coaching, Courses, WhatsApp) https://www.thisishcd.com/members
→ Gerry's consultancy (Service Design and Design Research) https://humana.design/

________________________
BECOME A DIRECTORY MEMBER (IT'S FREE!) and get all of this

→ FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion (Sign up for free with an email)
https://www.thisishcd.com/dashboard/learning/introduction-to-journey-management
→ Discover & Connect with others https://www.thisishcd.com/directory
→ Claim partner discounts https://www.thisishcd.com/partners
Gerry wears clothes from Sutsu, and has a coupon code for them, as well as Smaply, Scenario Cards, Unit 1 and more...
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All episodes have been produced by This is Podcasting. 

SPONSORED ADS
The Service Design Global Conference 2026 (SDGC26) takes place 28-30 October in Frankfurt RheinMain region - onsite and online. Get 10% off by using 'HCDSDGC10' at checkout

*New* Listen to Marc Stickdorn's new podcast https://www.smaply.com/podcast
________________________

In this episode of This is HCD, Hyun Song sits down with Jutta, founder and director of the Inclusive Design Research Centre at OCAD University and chair of the technical committee behind Canada's new accessible AI standard. They explore her Human Starburst model of human difference, why systems built for the average break down at the edges where people with disability sit, and what it takes to design for that difference rather than design it out.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC): https://idrc.ocadu.ca/

• We Count: https://wecount.inclusivedesign.ca/
• CAN-ASC-6.2:2025, Accessible and Equitable Artificial Intelligence Systems: https://accessible.canada.ca/standards-and-technical-guides/standards-and-technical-guides-database/can-asc-622025-accessible-and-equitable-artificial-intelligence-systems
• The Inverted Word Cloud demo: https://wecount.inclusivedesign.ca/initiatives/inverted-word-clouds/

Connect with Jutta:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juttatreviranus/

This is HCD is hosted by Gerry Scullion. This special series on inclusive design and accessibility is guest hosted by Hyun Song.

________________________
BRING THIS IS HCD INTO YOUR ORGANISATION

→ Train my organisation https://www.thisishcd.com/training
→ Video Courses https://www.thisishcd.com/courses
→ Coaching Community (Coaching, Courses, WhatsApp) https://www.thisishcd.com/members
→ Gerry's consultancy (Service Design and Design Research) https://humana.design/

________________________
BECOME A DIRECTORY MEMBER (IT'S FREE!) and get all of this

→ FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion (Sign up for free with an email)
https://www.thisishcd.com/dashboard/learning/introduction-to-journey-management
→ Discover & Connect with others https://www.thisishcd.com/directory
→ Claim partner discounts https://www.thisishcd.com/partners
Gerry wears clothes from Sutsu, and has a coupon code for them, as well as Smaply, Scenario Cards, Unit 1 and more...
________________________

All episodes have been produced by This is Podcasting. 

SPONSORED ADS
The Service Design Global Conference 2026 (SDGC26) takes place 28-30 October in Frankfurt RheinMain region - onsite and online. Get 10% off by using 'HCDSDGC10' at checkout

*New* Listen to Marc Stickdorn's new podcast https://www.smaply.com/podcast
________________________

Question: Sarah names five 'signals' of relational intelligence in the book. Name one.
Email [email protected] with your answer before August 31st to be in with a chance of winning. Winners will be announced via our newsletter. To join, go to thisishcd.com

________________________
BRING THIS IS HCD INTO YOUR ORGANISATION

→ Train my organisation https://www.thisishcd.com/training
→ Video Courses https://www.thisishcd.com/courses
→ Coaching Community (Coaching, Courses, WhatsApp) https://www.thisishcd.com/members
→ Gerry's consultancy (Service Design and Design Research) https://humana.design/

________________________
BECOME A DIRECTORY MEMBER (IT'S FREE!) and get all of this

→ FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion (Sign up for free with an email)
https://www.thisishcd.com/dashboard/learning/introduction-to-journey-management
→ Discover & Connect with others https://www.thisishcd.com/directory
→ Claim partner discounts https://www.thisishcd.com/partners
Gerry wears clothes from Sutsu, and has a coupon code for them, as well as Smaply, Scenario Cards, Unit 1 and more...
________________________

All episodes have been produced by This is Podcasting. 

SPONSORED ADS
The Service Design Global Conference 2026 (SDGC26) takes place 28-30 October in Frankfurt RheinMain region - onsite and online. Get 10% off by using 'HCDSDGC10' at checkout

*New* Listen to Marc Stickdorn's new podcast https://www.smaply.com/podcast
________________________

Jamaal's core idea is simple: compliance is the floor, not the ceiling. In this episode, we talk about what inclusive storytelling really means, how to tell stories that don't flatten people into stereotypes, and what changes, for better and worse, when generative AI becomes part of how those stories get made.

Jamaal is also a filmmaker. His short film BEADS, a four-minute Afrofuturist drama made with generative AI, is the phoenix project he describes in the episode. You can watch the 60-second teaser and see the visuals at beadsfilm.com, and enter your email there to get a link to the full film

Connect with Jamaal
Website: https://jamaal.digital/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamaal-davis
Newsletter (subscribe on LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7243645845663793152
Short film BEADS: https://beadsfilm.com/ 

________________________
BRING THIS IS HCD INTO YOUR ORGANISATION

→ Train my organisation https://www.thisishcd.com/training
→ Video Courses https://www.thisishcd.com/courses
→ Coaching Community (Coaching, Courses, WhatsApp) https://www.thisishcd.com/members
→ Gerry's consultancy (Service Design and Design Research) https://humana.design/

________________________
BECOME A DIRECTORY MEMBER (IT'S FREE!) and get all of this

→ FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion (Sign up for free with an email)
https://www.thisishcd.com/dashboard/learning/introduction-to-journey-management
→ Discover & Connect with others https://www.thisishcd.com/directory
→ Claim partner discounts https://www.thisishcd.com/partners
Gerry wears clothes from Sutsu, and has a coupon code for them, as well as Smaply, Scenario Cards, Unit 1 and more...
________________________

All episodes have been produced by This is Podcasting. 

SPONSORED ADS
The Service Design Global Conference 2026 (SDGC26) takes place 28-30 October in Frankfurt RheinMain region - onsite and online. Get 10% off by using 'HCDSDGC10' at checkout

*New* Listen to Marc Stickdorn's new podcast https://www.smaply.com/podcast
________________________

I'm thrilled to have her introduce a three-part series on Accessibility. For this series, Hyun has connected with some of the world's leading accessibility experts and consultants, and the conversations she's created are truly outstanding.

I've learned an enormous amount from Hyun — through watching her work, through our conversations, and now through these episodes, which you'll see over the coming week. I'd encourage everyone listening to give this series the attention it deserves.

This series also reflects what our coaching programme is all about. Some designers seek coaching to develop their professional practice; others want to build capabilities in new areas of interest. Podcasting, I believe, is a phenomenal skill to develop — it demands curiosity, clear thinking, and the ability to explore topics that matter, not just for the practitioner but for our wider community, who benefit from that curiosity too.

Enjoy the first episode. And if you get a chance, visit thisishcd.com and join the directory, where you can connect with Hyun, support her work, and follow the episodes as they're released. You may well find something in this series that strengthens your own craft.

Enjoy the episode.

https://www.thisishcd.com/directory/hyun-song

________________________
BRING THIS IS HCD INTO YOUR ORGANISATION

→ Train my organisation https://www.thisishcd.com/training
→ Video Courses https://www.thisishcd.com/courses
→ Coaching Community (Coaching, Courses, WhatsApp) https://www.thisishcd.com/members
→ Gerry's consultancy (Service Design and Design Research) https://humana.design/

________________________
BECOME A DIRECTORY MEMBER (IT'S FREE!) and get all of this

→ FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion (Sign up for free with an email)
https://www.thisishcd.com/dashboard/learning/introduction-to-journey-management
→ Discover & Connect with others https://www.thisishcd.com/directory
→ Claim partner discounts https://www.thisishcd.com/partners
Gerry wears clothes from Sutsu, and has a coupon code for them, as well as Smaply, Scenario Cards, Unit 1 and more...
________________________

All episodes have been produced by This is Podcasting. 

SPONSORED ADS
The Service Design Global Conference 2026 (SDGC26) takes place 28-30 October in Frankfurt RheinMain region - onsite and online. Get 10% off by using 'HCDSDGC10' at checkout

*New* Listen to Marc Stickdorn's new podcast https://www.smaply.com/podcast
________________________

Gerry finally sits down with one of his design heroes, Leisa Reichelt: research leader at GDS, Australia's DTA, and Atlassian. They dig into why scaling research is never a copy-paste job: how Leisa set her terms at GDS, why the DTO lost its way when the political "why" walked out the door, and what it cost to reset the research culture at Atlassian. Plus: why politics is the work, and why every researcher should know their top three things for the lift ride with the CEO.

Things we cover in this episode:
Building the research practice at GDS and GOV.UK; setting your terms as a leader; research recipes and resourcing patterns; blogging as public accountability; posters and phrases designed to be nicked; why GDS outlasted political change; the DTO/DTA and the cost of losing political sponsorship; scaling versus impact; legible versus illegible bureaucracy; resetting research culture at Atlassian; consent and research ethics; being opinionated with skin in the game; and podcasting as a research superpower.

Links:

• Leisa's podcast: The School Can't Experience
• Find Leisa on LinkedIn

________________________
BRING THIS IS HCD INTO YOUR ORGANISATION

→ Train my organisation https://www.thisishcd.com/training
→ Video Courses https://www.thisishcd.com/courses
→ Coaching Community (Coaching, Courses, WhatsApp) https://www.thisishcd.com/members
→ Gerry's consultancy (Service Design and Design Research) https://humana.design/

________________________
BECOME A DIRECTORY MEMBER (IT'S FREE!) and get all of this

→ FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion (Sign up for free with an email)
https://www.thisishcd.com/dashboard/learning/introduction-to-journey-management
→ Discover & Connect with others https://www.thisishcd.com/directory
→ Claim partner discounts https://www.thisishcd.com/partners
Gerry wears clothes from Sutsu, and has a coupon code for them, as well as Smaply, Scenario Cards, Unit 1 and more...
________________________

All episodes have been produced by This is Podcasting. 

SPONSORED ADS
The Service Design Global Conference 2026 (SDGC26) takes place 28-30 October in Frankfurt RheinMain region - onsite and online. Get 10% off by using 'HCDSDGC10' at checkout

*New* Listen to Marc Stickdorn's new podcast https://www.smaply.com/podcast
________________________

The conversation digs into what "smart" really means — and why Juan is trying to retire the word. They unpack MIPS and rotational impact protection in plain language, the logic of putting turn signals and brake lights above the roofline of cars so riders speak the driver's language, and the mental-model shift required before motorists instinctively read a signal on a cyclist's head. Gerry raises the questions his friends actually asked: do we need a smart helmet? Are they tracking you? (No, they're not.) And what about speakers for music — how does a safety company decide which customer requests to act on?

Gerry also tells the story that sparked this episode: a 35-minute Zoom support call with Anna from Unit 1 after an app update, and the philosophy behind it — "we don't see this as a problem, we see it as an opportunity." Juan explains why the founders still hop on customer calls themselves, and how those conversations turn customers into the brand's best salespeople, one traffic-light conversation at a time.

• Unit1 have kindly given you, the listener of This is HCD, a 10% discount ($100 minimum) HCDPODCAST-10
• https://www.unit1gear.com/

________________________
BRING THIS IS HCD INTO YOUR ORGANISATION

→ Train my organisation https://www.thisishcd.com/training
→ Video Courses https://www.thisishcd.com/courses
→ Coaching Community (Coaching, Courses, WhatsApp) https://www.thisishcd.com/members
→ Gerry's consultancy (Service Design and Design Research) https://humana.design/

________________________
BECOME A DIRECTORY MEMBER (IT'S FREE!) and get all of this

→ FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion (Sign up for free with an email)
https://www.thisishcd.com/dashboard/learning/introduction-to-journey-management
→ Discover & Connect with others https://www.thisishcd.com/directory
→ Claim partner discounts https://www.thisishcd.com/partners
Gerry wears clothes from Sutsu, and has a coupon code for them, as well as Smaply, Scenario Cards, Unit 1 and more...
________________________

All episodes have been produced by This is Podcasting. 

SPONSORED ADS
The Service Design Global Conference 2026 (SDGC26) takes place 28-30 October in Frankfurt RheinMain region - onsite and online. Get 10% off by using 'HCDSDGC10' at checkout

*New* Listen to Marc Stickdorn's new podcast https://www.smaply.com/podcast
________________________

• https://garycdavid.com/
• linkedin.com/in/gary-c-david

________________________
BRING THIS IS HCD INTO YOUR ORGANISATION

→ Train my organisation https://www.thisishcd.com/training
→ Video Courses https://www.thisishcd.com/courses
→ Coaching Community (Coaching, Courses, WhatsApp) https://www.thisishcd.com/members
→ Gerry's consultancy (Service Design and Design Research) https://humana.design/

________________________
BECOME A DIRECTORY MEMBER (IT'S FREE!) and get all of this

→ FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion (Sign up for free with an email)
https://www.thisishcd.com/dashboard/learning/introduction-to-journey-management
→ Discover & Connect with others https://www.thisishcd.com/directory
→ Claim partner discounts https://www.thisishcd.com/partners
Gerry wears clothes from Sutsu, and has a coupon code for them, as well as Smaply, Scenario Cards, Unit 1 and more...
________________________

All episodes have been produced by This is Podcasting. 

SPONSORED ADS
The Service Design Global Conference 2026 (SDGC26) takes place 28-30 October in Frankfurt RheinMain region - onsite and online. Get 10% off by using 'HCDSDGC10' at checkout

*New* Listen to Marc Stickdorn's new podcast https://www.smaply.com/podcast
________________________

Just me this week, no guest, and two quick asks before you get on with your day.

First, I'm collecting case studies for the book This is Human-Centred Design. I'm after real projects with real constraints, the messy middles and the bits that nearly fell over, not the polished version. You don't need to be well-known; you just need to have done the work. There's a simple form linked below.

Second, there are a few spots left in the This is HCD community, and when they're gone, they're gone. What makes it different: all the courses are included in one place, a WhatsApp group so you get answers the same day rather than posting into a forum nobody checks, plus coaching and support from actual humans. The whole lot is €299. And if you're a student, or you're somewhere the euro is just too strong against your currency, get in touch and we'll agree a price that's fair for where you are. I don't want money to be the reason you're not in the room.

Submit a case study: https://tihcd-casestudies.netlify.app/
Join the community: https://www.thisishcd.com/circle-community

________________________
BRING THIS IS HCD INTO YOUR ORGANISATION

→ Train my organisation https://www.thisishcd.com/training
→ Video Courses https://www.thisishcd.com/courses
→ Coaching Community (Coaching, Courses, WhatsApp) https://www.thisishcd.com/members
→ Gerry's consultancy (Service Design and Design Research) https://humana.design/

________________________
BECOME A DIRECTORY MEMBER (IT'S FREE!) and get all of this

→ FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion (Sign up for free with an email)
https://www.thisishcd.com/dashboard/learning/introduction-to-journey-management
→ Discover & Connect with others https://www.thisishcd.com/directory
→ Claim partner discounts https://www.thisishcd.com/partners
Gerry wears clothes from Sutsu, and has a coupon code for them, as well as Smaply, Scenario Cards, Unit 1 and more...
________________________

All episodes have been produced by This is Podcasting.