Codiance | The People-Centric System Engineers: marketing-hyperbole or something of substance?

It’s very easy to dismiss these words as marketing-speak. But they pinpoint why Codiance are leaders in building complex systems in property tech, health tech and ed tech.?

I’m really excited to be joining Codiance as a non exec. They’ve grown quickly over the past 2 years. Almost entirely through referrals.?I’m joining them on the next step of their journey.

Essentially I’m here to help Codiance put their best foot forward. Put Mark and his team in a room to problem solve with a potential client, and they win the business.

So honing in on some of those words in the title:

System Engineers: Codiance are engineers and not developers. I think some developers would see this as hyperbole in itself! Though fundamentally, system engineers go beyond the naughts and ones of system design. Critically, they optimise how a system interacts with its environment and the people using it.?

People-Centric: In this context, we’re not simply talking about an interface or the user experience in a system or platform. When we say people-centric design, we’re talking about making a system work for people and their behaviours - as opposed to people changing their behaviours for the system they’re using! It’s about involving those actually using the systems in the design process itself.

IDEO’s Human Centred Design

Long before meeting Codiance, I met the global design company? IDEO. Coincidently, they designed the diabetes blood glucose monitor I use. They also have a non-profit arm, IDEO.org.?

We design products and services alongside organisations that are committed to creating a more just and inclusive world - IDEO.org

They call their approach ‘Human Centred Design’. It’s an approach that’s been incredibly successful for them. If you’re interested, you can download some of their design toolkits at designkit.org.

Starting With People

In essence, People or Human Centred Design is a design process that starts and ends with the people who will be using the final product. You design from their perspective and encourage their input.

Codiance spends extensive time with customers before designing anything. They shadow staff to understand how they actually use a system. They listen to their feedback and ideas. There’s only so much you can learn from a schematic of a system. Mark wrote a great piece here that shows the importance of designing from a hands-on perspective.

IDEO’s approach goes through three key stages:

Inspiration - where you understand how something is used from their perspective.

Ideation - where you come up with lots of ideas. You think big and broad.

Implementation - where you test and launch. Get something live and iterate!

Behavioural Change

Behavioural change can be a barrier for many businesses at that final implementation stage. But this is why a people-centric approach is about the whole process and not just the first step.

When you understand the people, and design from their perspective you’ll come up with ideas that they will embrace - IDEA.org

By taking a people-centric approach, Codiance develops ideas that people embrace. Those using a new system have ownership of the ideas. They want to see them succeed.

I think Codiance’s work with BW is a great example of this. Or the launch of their first in-house product - Higher, for universities.?

I’m looking forward to being part of Codiance’s next big step. If you want to get in a room with Mark and the team, please get in touch!

Martyn Baker, Non Exec Director, Codiance