How NP’s Human-Centred Design Institute Helped Trinax Build a Stronger Workplace Culture
28 Aug 2026
Trinax adopted practical human-centred design tools that helped its teams collaborate better, deepen its client engagement and build a shared way to solve problems.
Trinax is a Singapore-based Experience and Transformation Partner that creates 360° brand experiences powered by innovation and technology. To drive innovation more sustainably, Trinax sought to move beyond relying on individual talent or approaching innovation one project at a time, and towards building stronger capabilities across the entire organisation.
At a glance
- The challenge: Trinax needed a company-wide approach for learning, collaboration and innovation.
- The solution: NP’s Human-Centre Design Institute’s (HCDI) LUMA Certified Practitioner and Facilitator Certification Programme and the internationally recognised LUMA System of Innovation.
- The impact: Trinax saw stronger internal collaboration, deeper client engagement and a more constructive feedback culture.
- The bigger picture: HCDI helps organisations build future-ready workplace skills such as problem solving, collaboration, communication and user empathy.
“In 2024, we realised that we needed an organisation-wide capability for learning, collaboration and structured innovation. Depending solely on individual talent or project-by-project execution was not sustainable,” says Mr Joel Goh, Founder & CEO.
NP’s HCDI introduced Trinax to Human-Centred Design (HCD) practices and the LUMA System of Innovation, giving teams a common language and practical tools to better understand users, frame problems and test ideas. Since adopting HCD, Trinax estimates that internal collaborative activities have increased by about 30%, while client engagement has risen by around 20% with teams participating earlier in problem definition, stakeholder alignment and solution shaping through workshops, discovery conversations and iterative review sessions.
Why HCD mattered to Trinax
For Trinax, HCD is more than a set of tools. It has become a way to lead, listen and make better decisions.
“As a multidisciplinary and innovation-led organisation, human-centred design is strategically important. It gives us a shared language and common way of problem solving across our teams. It guides how we listen, make decisions, collaborate, and work with our clients to create impressive technological experiences that are genuinely meaningful to their target audiences. To us, HCD is not just a methodology but a leadership philosophy,” says Mr Goh.
To make HCD a company-wide capability, Trinax invested in training all its employees, ensuring that everyone had the same knowledge. NP’s HCDI trainers from The Sandbox worked with Trinax’s senior management to customise the training around the company’s needs. The programme combined presentations, hands-on activities and peer learning, equipping employees with design thinking skills and tools for collaboration, creativity and user empathy. 23 employees are LUMA certified now – 11 as Facilitators and 12 as Practitioners.
A client workshop facilitated by Trinax in progress
How NP’s HCDI supported Trinax’s culture shift
Training was only the start. Recognising the importance of keeping HCD alive after the workshops, Trinax’s senior management set up a learning community where employees could practise HCD ideation and facilitation methods in daily work. LUMA methods such as “Rose, Thorn, Bud” offered a balanced way to review proposals, peer evaluations and annual appraisals. Digital visualisation and collaboration platforms also helped teams use HCD more consistently. Over time, these practices have reinforced the training, turning HCD from a skillset into a sustainable workplace culture.
LUMA method “Rose, Thorn, Bud” being applied in an internal meeting
Ms Jeslyn Chua, Assistant Creative Manager and an HCD Facilitator, has seen the difference in her team. “The structured approach has resulted in a more constructive and collaborative culture. Everyone has an opportunity to contribute their thoughts and ideas in a respectful way. All feedback is easily consolidated and summarised into clear insights and actionable next steps. As a team, we are aligned and able to make better decisions for future projects,” she says.
A snapshot of Trinax’s cross-team collaboration feedback session
NP’s Human-Centred Design Institute
In partnership with LUMA Institute
The Human-Centred Design Institute (HCDI) at Ngee Ann Polytechnic advances the discipline of developing solutions in the service of people. Guided by the LUMA Institute’s proven innovation framework, HCDI equips individuals and teams with a practical, flexible toolkit and a shared language that strengthens collaboration across organisations, sectors, and cultures. Through its professional training programmes and consultancy services, HCDI combines the LUMA System with a human-centred, activities-based approach to creative problem-solving, curating meaningful learning experiences that help individuals gain the core skills needed to stay agile and thrive in the future of work, and enabling organisations to build lasting innovation capabilities and design better outcomes for the people they serve.
Interested to learn how Human-Centred Design can make a difference to your workplace? Email Allen_LEE@np.edu.sg to explore your organisational innovation & transformation needs or find out about the SkillsFuture supported programmes here.