A person holding and reading an assistance application form, viewed from behind their shoulder, with the forms text and headings visible but slightly out of focus.

Online Courses

Applications

Learn how to assess and redesign applications for public services using human-centered design principles.

This course will deepen your understanding of what makes for a good application experience—you’ll gain clarity and context for common challenges, and learn human-centered design (HCD) principles that make applications more compassionate and easier to use and process. You’ll also apply these principles to start prototyping a new application, leaving you with a compelling artifact to build buy-in for redesigning your application using HCD.

If you have trouble signing up, reach out to us at practicaonline@civilla.org.

course outcomes

  • Understand and identify best practices in application design.

  • Advocate for redesigning applications.

  • Evaluate existing applications using best practices.

  • Create an initial prototype of a new application.

  • Start making a project plan for your application redesign.

Format
Online self-paced
Start Date
Start anytime
Time
2-3 hours
Price
Free

What you'll learn

  1. Welcome to Applications+

    • Course overview

    • Preparing to learn

    • HCD principles

  2. The Status Quo+

    • Applications today

    • The staff and resident experience

    • Assessing the baseline

  3. Principles of Application Design+

    • Case Study: Project Re:Form

    • Principle 1: Short

    • Principle 2: Simple

    • Principle 3: Relevant

  4. Prototyping a New Application+

    • The power of prototyping

    • Activity: Deconstruct your application

    • Activity: Start your prototype

  5. Next Steps+

    • HCD roadmap for applications

    • Continue your learning

    • Templates and tools

ready to start learning?