The toolkit will equip development and humanitarian professionals with practical tools to ethically co-create solutions alongside the people they aim to serve. Photo illustration; Aga Khan Foundation
In a decisive step toward more inclusive development practices, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) has launched a new open-access toolkit that places communities—not external experts—at the centre of innovation.
The Accelerate Impact Guide to Human-Centred Design for Social Innovation toolkit is designed to equip development and humanitarian professionals with practical tools to ethically co-create solutions alongside the people they aim to serve.
Unlike many conventional approaches shaped far from the realities on the ground, this guide offers a flexible, community-led design process that acknowledges complexity, values local insight, and prioritises shared ownership of social change.
Rebalancing Power in Development
International development efforts have long been shaped by external experts and funders who, while bringing valuable resources and knowledge, may lack deep familiarity with the lived realities of the communities they aim to support.
Marginalised groups—especially women and children—often remain excluded from decision-making processes despite being most affected by systemic challenges.
Recognising this gap, AKF embarked on a five-year journey to create an accessible, structured, and ethical approach to Human-Centred Design (HCD)—one that places communities at the heart of innovation.
Building on a growing international movement around HCD, the Accelerate Impact team developed a new version of the process, tailored to the development sector and the diverse contexts in which AKF operates.
A New Approach to Human-Centred Design
The Accelerate Impact Guide moves beyond conventional HCD methodologies by addressing common critiques and offering a process that is both rigorous and adaptable.
It strives to:
- Empower local communities to work alongside development professionals in leading their innovation processes, disrupting traditional top-down dynamics.
- Combine structure with flexibility, offering clear steps for beginners while allowing seasoned practitioners to tailor their approach.
- Engage with complexity, rather than simplifying entrenched social issues.
- Prioritise ethical co-design, ensuring communities are active participants in shaping solutions that affect them directly.
- Integrate environmental sustainability, embedding ecological considerations into every phase of the design process.
“We believe strongly in the need for those with decision-making power to co-create solutions with the communities they serve,” Munir Ahmad, Global Lead for Innovation, Aga Khan Foundation.
From Concept to Impact: Real-World Results
Developed by AKF’s Accelerate Impact team, the toolkit has been tested across Central and South Asia through multiple iterations informed by real-world feedback.
The results have been encouraging.
Local leaders trained in HCD have reported a deeper understanding of community needs and more effective, homegrown solutions.
One early participant, Nilufar Qambarova, attended initial HCD training in Tajikistan and later became a facilitator herself.
“We engaged closely with communities through participatory research, identifying needs, aspirations, and challenges that might otherwise go unnoticed,” Qambarova said.
“Despite having grown up in the same context, I was surprised by some of the nuanced findings these tools revealed. These insights are critical in designing solutions that communities will adopt.”
The experience highlights how even local practitioners can gain new perspectives using HCD tools, underscoring the power of structured listening and participatory research.
Making Human-Centred Design More Accessible
A central challenge in creating the guide was ensuring that people with little to no prior design experience could still apply its principles effectively and ethically.
Many existing HCD resources assume a degree of design training or facilitation expertise, often making them inaccessible to community organisations and smaller NGOs.
The Accelerate Impact Guide addresses this by offering step-by-step guidance for core innovation skills, including:
- Deep listening and empathy, helping teams uncover real community needs while remaining conscious of their own biases.
- Synthesis and sensemaking, to analyse complex input and convert it into clear, actionable insights.
- Prototyping and testing, enabling users to build, trial, and refine ideas before wider implementation.
Whether users need a fully guided process or focused support in specific areas, the guide is designed to meet them where they are.
A Call to Action for Ethical and Equitable Innovation
AKF views the guide not just as a technical resource but as a call to action for the development sector to rethink how change is designed and delivered.
Rather than relying on prescriptive models developed far from the communities they are meant to serve, the guide encourages a shift toward collaborative, community-led innovation.
“We believe strongly in the need for those with decision-making power to co-create solutions with the communities they serve,” said Ahmad.
“But we also recognise that this is difficult work, even for those with experience. That’s why we’ve developed this toolkit—to provide the support and structure needed to do this work effectively, ethically, and sustainably.”
By making the toolkit open-source and widely accessible, AKF hopes to inspire a broader transformation in how development professionals, social innovators, and community leaders engage with the people they aim to support.
Download the Toolkit
The Accelerate Impact Guide to Human-Centred Design for Social Innovation is now available for free download via the Aga Khan Foundation’s Learning Hub:
