In his Designing Humane Experiences: 5 Lessons from History's Greatest Innovation talk at UXPA Boston, Darrell Penta explored how the Korean alphabet (Hangul), created by King Sejong 600 years ago, exemplifies humane, user-centered design principles that remain relevant today. Here's my notes from his talk:
- Humane design shows compassion, kindness, and a concern for the suffering or well-being of others, even when such behavior is neither required nor expected When we approach design with compassion and concern for others' well-being, we unlock our ability to create innovative experiences
- In 15th century Korea (and most historical societies), literacy was restricted to elites
- Learning to read and write Chinese characters (used in Korea at that time) took years of dedicated study something common people couldn't afford
- King Sejong created an entirely new alphabet rather than adapting an existing one. There's ben only four instances in history of writing systems were invented independently. most are adaptations of existing systems
Korean Alphabet Innovations
- Letters use basic geometric forms (lines, circles, squares) making them visually distinct and easier to learn
- Consonants and vowels have clearly different visual treatments, unlike in English where nothing in the letter shapes indicates their class
- The shapes of consonants reflect how the mouth forms those sounds: the shape of closed lips, the tongue position behind teeth, etc.
- Sound features are mapped to visual features in a consistent way. base shapes represent basic sounds. Additional strokes represent additional sound features
- Letters are arranged in syllable blocks, making the syllable count visible
- Alphabet was designed for the technology of the time (brush and ink)
- Provided comprehensive documentation explaining the system
- Created with flexibility to be written in multiple directions (horizontally or vertically)
- Be Principled and Predictable: Develop clear, consistent design principles and apply them systematically
- Prioritize Information Architecture: Don't treat it as an afterthought
- Embrace Constraints: View limitations as opportunities for innovation
- Design with Compassion: Consider the broader social impact of your design
- Empower Users: Create solutions that provide access and opportunity