Our creative potential is being wasted. Creative potential is the most precious human resource. It is the capacity for creative problem solving and the human right to co-create solutions that address the needs of your community.
Dalberg Design partners with leading organizations to bring people to the the table so they can design solutions to the challenges and opportunities that affect their day to day lives.
APPROACH
WHAT IS HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN?
HCD is a way of thinking that places the people you’re trying to serve and other important stakeholders at the center of the design, innovation and implementation process. Our approach to HCD is iterative, measurable and results driven. We focus on understanding dynamics between stakeholders across the ecosystem. We work with stakeholders – whether end users or service providers – to create solutions and strategies that overcome challenges and develop opportunities to create value and impact. Learn more about HCD>>

AREAS OF EXPERTISE
SERVICE DESIGN
Dalberg Design uses service design methods to help organizations maintain a cohesive picture of various touch-points with users and stakeholders so they can better coordinate their activities to deliver value on a consistent basis over time.
CREATIVE FACILITATION
Creative and collaborative methods help engage stakeholders and users, map out new opportunity spaces and align around new agendas, ideas and strategies.
SYSTEM MAPPING
Dalberg Design uses system mapping helps visualize dynamic systems that reflect a common understanding of key stakeholders, relationships and feedback loops. This is critical in identifying leverage points and opportunities for collaboration.
PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH
We use on-site research methods that involve observations and deep-dive interviews, taking place in the contexts and locations in which users (and other stakeholders) live, work and interact.
RAPID PROTOTYPING
Rapid prototyping accelerates the process for testing assumptions and iterating new product, program or delivery models. It removes risk and increases certainty by engaging users and stakeholders early and often.
PILOT IMPLEMENTATION
Pilot testing and implementation validates propositions and lowers the risk of failure for a proposed solution. Supported by the right business strategy and incentive models, pilots are an ideal way to measure business impact through small-scale experimentation.
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
We incorporate behavioral science techniques into our HCD and prototyping approach to generate behavioral hypotheses and rigorously test ideas through experiments.
DATA ANALYTICS
We leverage big data analytics to complement qualitative research with statistically rigorous insights from market research, surveys and separate data sets, to inform segmentation, business cases and go-to-market strategies.
LEAN/AGILE DEVELOPMENT
We work closely with technology development partners to implement our solutions, using rapid sprint cycles centered on user stories closely tied to our HCD research insights.
MEETING PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE
Over the last 6 years, we’ve worked with a broad range of people, communities, and organizations. During that time we have been fortunate to work consistently with a core group of communities from around the world and develop a deeper understanding of their lives, challenges and opportunities.

Smallholder Farmer
There are an estimated 500 million smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income countries. Smallholder farmers are underserved by critical services, which contributes to low farm productivity and other challenges. Read more >>

Expecting Mother
Expecting mothers struggle with access to quality information and care for their newborns. This contributes to a high number of infant deaths worldwide – as many as 2.8 million in 2013 – within the first 28 days of life. Read more >>

Small-Scale Fisherfolk
Ocean fisheries are in crisis. Nearly 40% of fisheries have collapsed or are overexploited, risking the livelihoods of 350 million people, the food security of nearly 3 billion, and pressuring countless species in the world’s most bio-diverse waters. Read more >>

Underemployed Youth
Underemployed youth are spirited and hopeful, but discouraged and frustrated by the lack of formal job opportunities. This puts significant social, economic and emotional pressure on the millions of youth that enter the workforce each year. Read more >>
WORK
Dalberg Design works across a wide range of sectors, leveraging the rich content knowledge and expertise of Dalberg’s specialized practice areas to ensure our creative approaches and collaborations are calibrated to the complexity of these challenges:
Global Health | Financial Inclusion | ICT & Mobile for Development | Agriculture & Food Security | Sustainable Fisheries | Employment & Education | Gender Empowerment | Cities & Urban Development | Humanitarian Assistance | Energy Access | Environment | Water & Sanitation
Learn about some of our signature initiatives and programs. More at dalbergdesign.com>>
IDEAS
The Growing Role of Forest Products in Climate Change Mitigation
How can the forestry sector help the world to meet ambitious climate change targets? A new report by Dalberg Advisors shows how a nationally-determined approach to growing the forestry economy can both increase the supply of sustainably-sourced wood products as well as reduce global emissions.
READ MORE »The Potential of Web3 Technologies to Drive Social Change
There are numerous potential use cases around using Web3 to drive impact. Dalberg Advisors has developed a Web3 primer to help build a foundational understanding of Web3 and blockchain technologies that provides specific examples of the impact of Web3 technologies in the social impact sector.
READ MORE »Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together: Closing the Monitoring, Verification, and Reporting Gap to Enable Sustainable Regenerative Agriculture
One way to drive more sustainable land use is through regenerative agriculture. But driving the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices requires changing the incentives for farmers, which in turn requires developing new financing and technical support mechanisms that include monitoring, verification, and reporting tools focused on how farmers are using their land.
READ MORE »Land Restoration that Works: How to Rejuvenate the Environment while Stimulating Economic Growth
Across Africa, a climate solution known as Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) is gaining traction through an ambitious goal to restore 100 million hectares of degraded landscape by 2030. But more philanthropic capital is needed to help FLR achieve its potential.
READ MORE »A GLOBALLY DIVERSE TALENT BASE
We have design studios in London, Mumbai, Nairobi and New York. Our teams have worked with communities in 43 countries on 200+ projects since 2014.

Learn more about working at Dalberg Design >>