DESIGN THINKING FOR HR TRENDS

I was recently invited to speak to an organization’s HR leadership team about the “latest trends in design thinking for HR”.

Problem is, I don’t own a crystal ball.

I also don’t believe that just one person or an exclusive circle of luminaries alone can predict the future. Especially in the increasingly complex world we live in.

That’s why we need a different model to co-create strategy . I think the same applies to trend analysis.

Why not make trend co-creation the new trend?

I though this community would be the right audience to experiment with the concept.

Let’s use this definition of what constitutes a trend: “A prevailing tendency that is gradually gaining momentum and might have long-term implications. The fact that more people are working from home is a trend.” – Source: NPR

So, here are some of my initial trend observations. I invite you to build on them:

?

Trend #1: The Employee Experience Endures.

The question on many peoples’ minds is whether the employee experience will survive a downturn economy with persisting mass layoffs . The concept has been around since 2015 and has emerged stronger after each recession. I think we have reached a tipping point and enough momentum through an emerging professionalization of the function . Recent graduates are now interested in pursuing EX as a career . So, yes, I am bullish about the employee experience.

Prioritization is key, especially in times of economic uncertainty. Focus on moments that really matter to your employees and humanize key HR programs and processes such as candidate experience , DEI , performance feedback , ?career design , caretaking & bereavement support, and leadership development . Develop your HR team’s design thinking capability by experimenting with human-centered methods such as Employee Experience Journey Mapping . ?Longer term, leaders might want to think through how to structure HR as a Service , define who leads design thinking in HR , or consider options for building a design thinking for HR function .

?

Trend #2: Context Is More Critical Than Ever.

HR is a system within a system within a system. What are the big, systemic problems of our time that we might tackle with design thinking?

Knowing when and when not to use design thinking for problem solving and decision making are key so you don’t wield the method like a hammer in search of a nail. Be thoughtful about how design thinking might integrate with other frameworks such as Change Management or Org Design .

Context matters. As you re-design one program, you will quickly realize that it impacts other processes. Pay attention to the transition points to other programs. These can make or break the end-to-end employee experience.

?

Trend #3: Co-Creation and Community Learning Conquer the Corporate World.

One of the biggest draws of using design thinking is that it empowers HR professionals to co-create solutions with employees and leaders. Any HR professional who has run an internal HR.Hackathon tells me how “liberating” it feels to not having to have all the answers. By enlisting employees to co-create solutions with you, they are also automatically engaged and invested in the change process.

Internal and external communities (like the HR.Hackathon Alliance ) help deepen design thinking capability building – by knowledge sharing and learning from and with peers.

?

Trend #4: Design Thinking Becomes a Key Capability to Fuel Innovation.

The World Economic Forum counts among the top skills of 2025:

1.??????Analytical thinking and innovation

2.??????Active learning and learning strategies

3.??????Complex problem solving

4.??????Critical thinking and analysis

5.??????Creativity , originality and initiative

All these skills come together in the design thinking method. So, one of HR’s key objectives should be to contemplate how to build organizational capability in human-centered design. Just doing one workshop or HR.Hackathon might be a good taster, but it requires hard work to truly build sustained capability.

?

Trend #5: The Age of Burnout and AI: Working Smarter, Not Harder.

Burnout continues to plague the HR function. Design thinking principles can help with prioritization and project management .

Now is the time to learn how to use AI to make our jobs easier and to analyze which tasks can/should and cannot/should not be performed with it.

Not only can ChatGPT & Co. help with administrative HR tasks such as drafting an initial job description, it can also join design thinking activities, for example by generating an initial list of ideas or build on ideas generated by humans. AI might even simulate interaction with a prototype.

?

Your Turn, Trend Co-Creators: What resonates? What doesn’t? What’s missing?

?

?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Design Thinking for HR is a biweekly LinkedIn newsletter that aims to inspire HR professionals to experiment with the human-centered design framework. The newsletter is curated by?Nicole Dessain who is the Chief Employee Experience Designer at talent.imperative , Founder of the HR.Hackathon Alliance , and a Northwestern University instructor. Nicole is currently writing her first book about Design Thinking for HR. Join the Early Readers’ Community here .