Many people living on the margins have long known what it means to do more with less. And if necessity is the mother of invention – then understanding this, has been key to the development of the Aga Khan Foundation’s (AKF) new toolkit, the Accelerate Impact Guide to Human-Centred Design for Social Innovation. “People will say ‘oh but you’re the expert, you know these things’,” reflects Munir Ahmad, AKF’s Global Lead for Innovation and Design. “But over time it became clear that you are not the expert, people are the experts – they are the ones who know best the challenges they’re facing and the best solutions to these challenges.” Recognising this and compelled by questions around how to scope and scale human-centred design – a recognised approach grounded in a deep understanding of human needs and behaviours, and driven by participatory, collaborative, and iterative processes – the Accelerate Impact team at AKF embarked on a five-year journey. Their goal was to develop a toolkit that is accessible, actionable, locally relevant and easily customisable. “We looked at all existing toolkits, and found that they were too corporate, rigid or generic,” says Ahmad. “We needed something that reflected the complexity of [development] work – and that could meet people where they are, not where the textbook says they should be.”