humancenteredness

Humancenteredness is a perspective or approach that prioritizes human values, needs, and well-being in the design, evaluation, and governance of systems, products, and policies. It emphasizes dignity, autonomy, safety, and usability, and seeks to understand the human context, including physical, cognitive, emotional, and social dimensions.

In design and technology, humancenteredness is closely associated with human-centered design and user-centered design. The approach centers on understanding users and their environments, engaging stakeholders, and iterating solutions through testing and feedback. Accessibility, inclusivity, and privacy are commonly prioritized to ensure that outcomes are usable by diverse populations and do not erode human rights.

Historically, humancenteredness draws on humanism and later ethical and social considerations in science and engineering. In contemporary discourse it often contrasts with technocentric or system-centered paradigms that prioritize efficiency, performance, or automation over human values.

Applications span product development, software engineering, healthcare, education, and public policy. In AI and data-driven fields, humancenteredness supports explainability, controllability, and safeguards for fairness, accountability, and transparency.

Critics warn that humancenteredness can reinforce anthropocentrism or overlook non-human beings and ecosystems. Balancing human needs with environmental sustainability, social justice, and long-term planetary health remains a central challenge. Implementations also depend on governance, power dynamics, and cultural contexts.

See also: human-centered design; user-centered design; humanism; participatory design; ethical design.