SAFEcert

Overview

In my Collaborative Design class, my team explored human-centered design to understand the challenges faced by service animal trainers. After interviews, persona-building, and brainstorming over 200 ideas, we converged on SAFEcert: a nonprofit organization to train and certify businesses in treating service animals, their trainers, and their handlers with dignity and respect.

My Contributions

I played a central role in shaping SAFEcert through research, design, and synthesis:

• Interviewed Boston-area service animal trainers to uncover core needs and frustrations
• Created personas to guide design decisions and evaluate product ideas
• Led ideation sessions that narrowed 200+ ideas down to 9 concepts, then to SAFEcert
• Helped define SAFEcert’s dual mission: public education and privacy/respect

Outcome

While founding SAFEcert was outside the scope of the course, the idea resonated strongly. One trainer who attended our final presentation reached out afterward, expressing enthusiasm in the idea and wishing the organization existed. The experience taught me the power of human-centered design and the importance of aligning user needs with feasible, impactful solutions.