The “New Year, New You” trope usually fades by February, but for forward-thinking organisations, 2026 demands more than just a fresh calendar. It requires a fundamental shift in how we navigate a market that has become increasingly unforgiving of guesswork.

As leadership teams map out their strategic goals, the Applied Human-Centred Design (HCD) Practitioners Programme—a collaboration between BongoHive Consult and the University of Lusaka—offers a critical competitive edge.

The Strategic Value of HCD

Human-Centred Design is often misunderstood as a purely aesthetic pursuit. In reality, it is a rigorous business methodology designed to drive ROI through three key pillars:

• De-Risking Innovation: The most expensive mistake a company can make is building a solution nobody wants. HCD replaces “we think” with “we know,” using real user insights to eliminate costly assumptions before capital is committed.

• Breaking Functional Silos: Innovation often dies in the gaps between departments. This programme provides a unified language for problem-solving, ensuring that marketing, operations, and IT collaborate with a single, strategic focus.

• The Empathy ROI: Customer-centricity is the ultimate revenue driver. By equipping teams to solve the right problems, organisations see higher loyalty, faster adoption, and a more resilient market share.

From Theory to Application

This isn’t just professional development; it is an applied journey. Teams will master User Insight Mining to uncover deep customer motivations, Rapid Prototyping to test ideas at low cost, and Strategic Iteration to build a culture of evidence-based improvement.

In 2026, the most successful organisations won’t just be the ones with the most data—they will be the ones that understand their people best. Don’t let this year be another cycle of “business as usual.” Empower your teams to design the future, rather than just reacting to it.  Enrol here