If you’ve enjoyed reading this case and want to dive deeper, we’d love to hear from you and we will connect you with relevant designers like the team, who worked on this project Contact Us
Youth Empowerment through Human Centered Design
- Gaëlle
- Madagascar
- February 1, 2026
Situation
Members of the Y-Investment Club at YMCA Madagascar—around 40 young people aged 18–30—meet regularly to explore entrepreneurship and investment. While highly motivated, many lacked practical tools to understand user needs and transform ideas into viable solutions in Madagascar’s evolving economic landscape.
Assignment
The initiative aimed to spark entrepreneurial mindsets by equipping youth with human-centred design skills. The goal was to help participants become community change-makers capable of addressing local challenges with creativity, empathy and structured innovation.
Approach
A half-day “Youth Empowerment through Human-Centered Design” workshop introduced the full Design Thinking cycle: empathizing through interviews and role-play, defining user problems, ideating using the Six Thinking Hats technique, prototyping rapid concepts and testing through peer feedback. Hands-on exercises ensured participants practiced each phase while applying real user insights.
Result
The program cultivated confidence, creativity and problem-solving abilities among young leaders. Participants learned to analyse user needs, generate meaningful ideas and prototype quickly—embedding a human-centred approach that strengthens their future entrepreneurial and professional pathways.