Context layer 01
Person
The person is the starting point, not the whole explanation.
Core question
Who is this person, and what do we need to understand about them before interpreting what is happening?
The Person layer asks us to begin with the individual as a whole human being, with their own history, perspective, needs, priorities, and agency. It is the starting point for understanding, but it is never the only place to look.
This layer includes
- Identity and roles
- Needs and priorities
- Perspective and meaning
- Relevant lived experience
- Current situation and presentation
What to notice
See the individual before explaining the outcome.
Before interpreting a behavior, decision, performance, or difficulty, understand who is actually experiencing it. Two people can encounter the same environment and respond differently because they arrive with different needs, histories, expectations, resources, priorities, and ways of making sense of what is happening.
The Person layer helps keep those differences visible before we move outward into the conditions surrounding them.
What this does not mean
Context does not erase agency.
Beginning with the person does not mean treating them as separate from everything around them. It also does not mean that context excuses every choice or removes responsibility.
The purpose is to avoid reducing a person to an outcome while still taking their decisions, actions, and responsibilities seriously.
Questions worth asking
What would we want to know before reaching a conclusion?
- What matters to this person?
- What are they trying to do, protect, avoid, or understand?
- What relevant experiences are they bringing into the situation?
- What assumptions are we making about them?
- What would they say is happening?
- What needs, priorities, or constraints might not yet be visible?
From context to action
Seeing more is only the beginning.
The six layers help answer what to examine.
The SEED Method helps answer what to do with what you see.
Stay close to the work.
New research, ideas, and questions from Human Context, delivered as they develop.