On the first time experience of a human centered design... 

"Our experience working with [human-centered design] was absolutely amazing. I was not familiar with [the process of] design thinking and was skeptical that the design lab would result in more of the same ideas that either hadn’t worked in the past or were unachievable.  I was pleased that the process was efficient, collaborative and resulted in actionable recommendations!” Bill Sullivan's facilitation style is inclusive and respectful of diverse ideas and he had clearly moved the group towards meeting our goal. I highly recommend The Courage Collective for any organization seeking innovation in their approach to meeting agency and community needs."

Loretta V. Bush; MSA, President/CEO, Institute for Population Health

On socially innovating through human-centered design...

"Design thinking is a collaborative problem-solving process that challenges participants to develop new, creative, and more effective ways of using existing resources to address complex social problems.  Recently, we participated in the design process to address the problem of infant mortality in the Detroit metro area.  The enthusiasm of workshop participants was fueled by the realization that the innovations could be implemented relatively easily because they did not require a large infusion of funds. The design thinking approach has tremendous potential as a tool that is capable of cultivating innovation and improving non-profit effectiveness." 

Nancy Hewat, Principle Consultant, Synthesis Evaluation and Research, Ph.D. Education Policy with 20+ years experience evaluating social innovation

On the impact of social problem-solving...

"As a women’s health advocate for over the past ten years, I have experienced many roles of program and policy development that often yield slow results and tend to replicate solutions that have been in place for many years.  As a participant in the design lab, I was very excited to try a new approach to a persistent problem within public health. This approach used a guided facilitation over a number of weeks that would create a lean process of problem solving. Participating in the design lab was a unique and enjoyable experience as an advocate.  Very early on, it was clear that this process would be much different than the program and policy development processes I had experienced throughout my career.  The process used much more innovation and intuitiveness outside of traditional academic training.  Additionally, the participants of the design lab were diverse in training and experience and brought nontraditional viewpoints to the issue we were trying to address.  The lab also allowed us to approach a social ill from a holistic point of view, incorporating data, personal experience, professional expertise, and inclusion of all viewpoints." 

Celeste Davis, Chief Advocate, Justice is Love

On collaboration to change social conditions...

"As design thinking becomes more ubiquitous as a method for creating human centered design the importance of connecting with those experienced in facilitating the process becomes increasingly valuable.  I’ve read books providing great information on the why and how of design that is both user centered and humane. I have attended workshops that practice and embrace these methods as well.  It was not until I participated in a Design Lab facilitated by Bill and his team that many of the concepts that I’d read about and experienced came together for me.  It was clear that Bill was intentional in selecting a group of individuals across multiple sectors as well as those who were close to and had even experienced the issue being addressed. The resulting design could not have come from any one of us who participated but together, we were able to create an actionable plan to address an important social issue."

Delphia Simmons, Director, Passport to Self-Sufficiency™, Coalition On Temporary Shelter (COTS) and Founder, Thrive Detroit Street Newspaper

On the value to the end user...

The design lab flipped the traditional medical expert top-down solution model on its head using design thinking. Design thinking approaches problem solving from a user-centric perspective. With the influence of medical expert’s data and research, a room of mothers came up with an extremely simple action plan to make a direct impact on the at-risk community.  The process quickly turned strangers into problem solvers, offering opportunities for a community to come together and produce outcomes that were actionable, simple, and most importantly, validated as a useful solution by users who have experienced the pain in the past.  

Isaac Gilman, Human-Centered Design Co-facilitator and User

On the depth of human centered design to affect social innovation...

"The cross functional, cross generational group was extremely diverse both as individuals and professions. Based on the premise of design thinking, we were charged to approach a very real problem and establish short and long term solutions. Working with very divergent backgrounds and mindsets, it quickly became apparent that we could approach the issue at hand with far more depth of thinking and thus provide more innovative solutions that were not encumbered by typical restraints. We started with a great deal of information provided by subject matter experts and were able to narrow our focus and bring clarity to a few solid options. Bill’s guidance through this process was stellar as he conducted us on a fast paced, but extremely productive trajectory."

 Roland F. Day, II, AIA, IIDA, SENIOR DESIGNER | VENATOR | URBAN CRAFTSMAN, dPOP! Design