7 key differences between Life- Centered Design and Human-Centered Design

I my blog “Moving from Human-centered design towards Life-centered design” I talk about why we should change from putting humans at the centre of our creation to putting life on our planet at the core. In this blog, I want to highlight 7 key differences between HCD and LCD

To be able to move from human-centered to life-centered we need to educate ourselves about the planet and it's life. We need to incorporate other skills, knowledge and wisdom into our design domain.

Human- Centered Design

Human-centeed Design goes inward. It is about what I want as a consumer. Many of the “pains” we discover with design or entrepreneurship are not pains. They are merely inconveniences.

Human-centred design is hierarchical. You can do all the research you think you need. But the client/ manager decides.

Human-centred Design takes from nature and non-user communities; therefore, it is degenerative. It excludes de likes of animals, plants & nature.

Human-centred design is about living less. Its main focus is to make our life easier and sell us more. For all these reasons, it is about short-term thinking.

Life- Centered Design

Life-Centered Design is moving outward, literally going out in nature, sharing with your communities, leaning less on technology & convenience, and more on our own senses and skills.

Life-Centered Design focuses on what life on our planet really needs, which can result in degrowth.

Life Centered Design is about equivalence. It is a collaborative act where the previously unheard human and natural stakeholders get a spot in the decision-making ring.

Life-Centred Design aims to be regenerative, do no harm and improve life on our planet.

We give nature a voice by including animals, plants & nature. It is about living more with all your senses. Thus it is about long-term thinking.


We just started making this transition to move to a life-centered world. Making the step to becoming truly sustainable is a challenge but luckily we have guiding example such as Patagonia

Become part of the Life-Centered Design movement. You can book a LCD taster with your team to find out.

Jeroen Spoelstra

I am a passionate designer and mountain biker focusing on bringing people forward using a human centered approach. As a designer you could call what I do Social Design, but nowadays there are hundreds of different design names. So for me I am a designer and try to be humble to the world. I like solving issues together with other people in co-design and I love helping people reach there goals.

I find inspiration in mountain biking, traveling and in my current home the Spanish Pyrenees. I use sports, traveling and being outside to get inspired for my work as a designer.

Design to me is constantly shitifing between making meaningful products to creating impactful and real solutions/ approaches/ business that can make a difference.

The Design profession shouldn’t solely be reserved for the designer (in developed world), but for everyone! I design for impact and help people bring out their little designer in himself or herself. I am not saying everyone should become a designer, but I do think people can use a little bit of design to help themselves forward in their personal/ professional life.

https://www.unbeatenstudio.com
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