The focus of lecture this week was the human-centered design approach to identifying needs in a situation and eventually developing solutions to those needs. I think the HCD approach is a very practical and efficient way to accurately assess a situation and determine what can be improved in that situation. The most important component of HCD is the “hear” component in my opinion. If public health officials and engineers do not interview the people they are trying to help or immerse themselves in the community that needs aid, then they do not have an accurate picture of the problem and cannot accurately solve it. It was really interesting watching the videos for the four different healthcare environments around the world and noticing the drastic differences between the clinics in the US versus the clinics in Africa. Many of the devices and amenities in the US are taken for granted, while African health clinics operate using rudimentary supplies. The main concept that stood out to me this week is that many of the challenges in African healthcare could be overcome with more money. For example, the African clinics used paper, handwritten records rather than electronic records which are more reliable and confidential. This problem could be solved by purchasing computers, establishing a database, and ensuring enough electricity and power to keep all of it running. This solution would work in the US, but it would not work in Africa. It is up to engineers and other professionals to think of innovative, financially feasible ways to overcome these problems