The benefits of a human-centred approach to design have been widely recognised throughout industry, in the research community and by regulatory bodies. In the maritime domain, it is also beginning to make an impact. This article explores how a human-centred approach may successfully be achieved within the context of ship design using a case study from a project to create conceptual designs for two offshore wind turbine installation vessels. Using vessel designs as a mediating tool between designers, users and human factors specialists, basic task analysis and link analysis methods were used to incorporate operational knowledge into the design process. After applying this to the integration of a dynamic positioning system on one of the vessels, the designers concluded that a human-centred approach had improved not only ship safety, but also safety, efficiency and cost-effectiveness in operations.