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Solve Hard Problems with Design Thinking

A hands-on, intermediate course in the innovation methodology trusted by the world's leading product, marketing, and strategy teams.

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Intermediate9 hr 13 minSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

Design Thinking is a human-centered innovation method used by product teams, consultants, marketers, and entrepreneurs to tackle problems that resist conventional solutions. This intermediate course moves beyond theory to give you a practical toolkit: structured empathy interviews, persona and journey-map synthesis, How Might We reframing, seven ideation techniques, low-fidelity prototyping formats, and assumption-driven user testing. Each module builds on the last so you finish with a fully exercised end-to-end problem-solving sprint you can repeat on any challenge.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Conduct structured empathy interviews and observation sessions that surface genuine user needs

Synthesize raw research into actionable problem statements using persona and journey-map frameworks

Apply at least five ideation techniques to generate a broad, high-quality set of solution ideas

Build low-fidelity prototypes matched to the specific assumption you need to test

Design and run a user-testing session that produces clear, decision-ready insights

Facilitate a complete Design Thinking sprint with a team in a business or freelance context

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: Empathize and Understand

The first phase of Design Thinking is about getting out of your own head and into the lived experience of the people you are designing for. These three lessons cover how to plan, conduct, and document genuine empathy research.

3 lessons

Why Empathy Is the Foundation of InnovationContent · 40 min

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Planning and Conducting Empathy InterviewsContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Observation and Field ResearchContent · 42 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Define the Right Problem

Raw empathy research is valuable only when it is synthesized into a precise problem statement. This module covers the tools — affinity mapping, personas, journey maps, and How Might We framing — that transform messy field data into a sharp design challenge.

3 lessons

Synthesis: From Research Chaos to Insight ClustersContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Building Personas and Journey MapsContent · 52 min

LMS Access

Writing How Might We StatementsContent · 38 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Ideate With Intent

Ideation is not about generating random ideas — it is about applying structured techniques to produce a wide, high-quality set of possibilities against a defined design challenge. This module equips you with seven practical methods and the facilitation skills to run them.

3 lessons

Principles of Productive IdeationContent · 37 min

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Seven Ideation Techniques You Can Use TodayContent · 55 min

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Converging: Selecting Ideas Worth PrototypingContent · 43 min

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Module 4

Module 4: Prototype, Test, and Iterate

The final two stages of Design Thinking — prototyping and testing — are where assumptions meet reality. These lessons teach you how to build prototypes cheaply and specifically, design a rigorous testing session, and translate feedback into decisions that improve your solution.

3 lessons

Low-Fidelity Prototyping FormatsContent · 48 min

LMS Access

Designing and Running User TestsContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Iteration, Decision Gates, and Running Your Own SprintContent · 53 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

design thinkinginnovationproblem solvinguser researchideationprototypingjourney mapping