Summary
When global travel shut down, Viamo had a dilemma: how would they meet their users? For almost a decade, Viamo has worked with communities around the globe building products for people with limited access to technology. They operate in over 40 countries and their staff comprises workers based in 19 different time zones. Learn how the Viamo team has become better designers, more equitable practitioners, and better positioned as a company by adopting a “Human Centered Design Approach”, skilling up their in-country teams, and working with a network of local design researchers.
Key Insights
-
•
Embedding local designers in user communities enables more authentic, continuous research and better product outcomes.
-
•
Pandemic restrictions accelerated the shift away from flying-in designers to locating them near users.
-
•
Extractive research treats users as data sources rather than partners, which harms trust and design quality.
-
•
Compensation frameworks for research participants improve ethical standards and engagement.
-
•
Design practices and research methods must be adapted flexibly to local cultural contexts.
-
•
Building sustained relationships with users requires regular follow-up beyond initial research interactions.
-
•
Company-wide human-centered design education fosters shared understanding and deeper community engagement.
-
•
Design work should be continuous and collaborative, not isolated and project-limited, to ensure knowledge retention.
-
•
Maintaining and sharing research documentation enhances organizational memory and resilience.
-
•
Reducing travel for research helps lower an organization's carbon footprint while encouraging closer local engagement.
Notable Quotes
"Go home and find a way to do it where you're from. Don't come here to Thailand."
"When someone gives you their phone number or interview with you, you become a steward of their data."
"Users are not just sources of data; they're partners who bring their experiences and insights."
"If you want your users to trust you, you need to share openly and be transparent about your research."
"We started a human-centered design passport training to empower local staff to engage in research."
"Flying out to meet users and then flying home to design somewhere else is not sustainable or effective."
"Briefcase NGOs show up, collect opinions, don't pay people, and then disappear."
"Nothing is ever finished. Everything is a living document, constantly evolving based on local feedback."
"Building follow-up into your work plans is crucial, so you're engaging users at key decision moments."
"Reducing flights isn't about abolishing travel, but about reducing carbon emissions and building resilience."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"A lot of accessibility work isn’t just for a small group — designing for the edges gets you the middle for free, as Yuda Trevor says."
Sam ProulxOnline Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
November 29, 2023
"Check the people on the board and the advisors because that tells you a lot about the company’s true values."
Max Gadney Andrea Petrucci Joshua Stehr Hannah WickesAssessing UX jobs for impact in climate
August 14, 2024
"For larger teams, tools like OfficeVibe gift-wrap people’s feelings into easy-to-digest data."
Shipra Kayan Tess DixonHow Tess Dixon Facilitates Team Engagement and Collaboration at Condé Nast Using Miro
October 1, 2021
"Design is open source; everybody participates, but you need facilitation to make good on that promise."
Bob Baxley Sara Asche Anderson Sharon Bautista Frank Duran Jamie Kaspszak Abbey Smalley Sylas SouzaTheme 4: Discussion
January 8, 2024
"Silos are inevitable but as enterprise designers, we find ways to work across them to get our job done."
Janaki KumarInnovate with Purpose
June 14, 2018
"Leadership knew design transformation would be hard, which is why my role was created to help guide that change."
Lona MooreScaling Design Beyond Designers
June 11, 2021
"This work is totally within the wheelhouse of designers and product managers—it’s just thinking through systems with numbers."
Giff ConstableFinancial fluency for product leaders: AMA with Giff Constable
April 11, 2024
"What role do you want to play in helping save us and our beautiful planet from ourselves?"
Meghan Hellstern Joanne DongThe Next 100 Years of Civic Design: How Might We Better Rise to Meet the Challenges of Today and Tomorrow?
December 10, 2021
"Evaluation might be the most important part of your entire development effort and is often the hardest to do well."
Sarah BarrettAI in Real Life: Using LLMs to Turbocharge Microsoft Learn
February 13, 2025
