Design Thinking Online Course: The Beginner's Guide
How This Course Will Help Your Career
What You’ll Learn
- How to apply design thinking to your problems in order to generate innovative and user-centric solutions
- How to make use of practical design thinking methods in every stage of your problem, with the help of method templates
- How to initiate a new working culture based on a user-centric approach, empathy, ideation, prototyping, and playful testing
- How to employ ethnographic and analysis methods, such as interviews, focus groups, and surveys
- How to prototype early and fast, as well as test your prototypes so as to reduce risks and accelerate organizational learning
Some of the world’s leading brands, such as Apple, Google, Samsung, and General Electric, have rapidly adopted the design thinking approach, and design thinking is being taught at leading universities around the world, including Stanford d.school, Harvard, and MIT. What is design thinking, and why is it so popular and effective?
The overall goal of this design thinking course is to help you design better products, services, processes, strategies, spaces, architecture, and experiences. Design thinking helps you and your team develop practical and innovative solutions for your problems. It is a human-focused, prototype-driven, innovative design process. Through this course, you will develop a solid understanding of the fundamental phases and methods in design thinking, and you will learn how to implement your newfound knowledge in your professional work life. We will give you lots of examples; we will go into case studies, videos, and other useful material, all of which will help you dive further into design thinking.
This course contains a series of practical exercises that build on one another to create a complete design thinking project. The exercises are optional, but you’ll get invaluable hands-on experience with the methods you encounter in this course if you complete them, because they will teach you to take your first steps as a design thinking practitioner. What’s equally important is you can use your work as a case study for your portfolio to showcase your abilities to future employers! A portfolio is essential if you want to step into or move ahead in a career in the world of human-centered design.
Design thinking methods and strategies belong at every level of the design process. However, design thinking is not an exclusive property of designers—all great innovators in literature, art, music, science, engineering, and business have practiced it. What’s special about design thinking is that designers and designers’ work processes can help us systematically extract, teach, learn, and apply these human-centered techniques in solving problems in a creative and innovative way—in our designs, in our businesses, in our countries, and in our lives.
That means that design thinking is not only for designers but also for creative employees, freelancers, and business leaders. It’s for anyone who seeks to infuse an approach to innovation that is powerful, effective and broadly accessible, one that can be integrated into every level of an organization, product, or service so as to drive new alternatives for businesses and society.
Lessons in This Course
- Each week, one lesson becomes available.
- There’s no time limit to finish a course. Lessons have no deadlines.
- Estimated learning time: 27 hours 36 mins spread over 6 weeks .
Lesson 0: Welcome and Introduction
To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 1 hour 45 mins.
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0.1: Welcome and Introduction (9 mins)
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0.2: Build Your Portfolio Project (6 mins)
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0.3: An introduction to courses from the Interaction Design Foundation (37 mins)
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0.4: Let our community help you (1 min)
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0.5: How to Earn Your Course Certificate (16 mins)
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0.6: Meet your peers online in our discussion forums (6 mins)
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0.7: Meet and learn from design professionals at an upcoming meet-up (1 min)
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0.8: Gain Timeless Knowledge Through Courses From the Interaction Design Foundation (21 mins)
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0.9: Mandatory vs. Optional Lesson Items (7 mins)
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0.10: A Mix Between Video-Based and Text-Based Lesson Content (6 mins)
Lesson 1: What is Design Thinking and Why is it so Popular?
To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours 59 mins.
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1.1: What is Design Thinking and Why Is It So Popular? (42 mins)
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1.2: Design Thinking: New Innovative Thinking for New Problems (21 mins)
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1.3: Obstacles to Problem Solving and Innovation in Design Thinking (17 mins)
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1.4: What Are Wicked Problems and How Might We Solve Them? (38 mins)
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1.5: Essential Design Thinking Videos, Methods and Tools (56 mins)
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1.6: Share Your Thoughts (8 mins)
Lesson 2: The Design Thinking Process
To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 4 hours 5 mins.
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2.1: The 5 Stages in the Design Thinking Process (22 mins)
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2.2: Stage 1 in the Design Thinking Process: Empathise with Your Users (28 mins)
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2.3: Stage 2 in the Design Thinking Process: Define the Problem and Interpret the Results (21 mins)
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2.4: Stage 3 in the Design Thinking Process: Ideate (22 mins)
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2.5: Stage 4 in the Design Thinking Process: Prototype (47 mins)
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2.6: Stage 5 in the Design Thinking Process: Test (17 mins)
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2.7: Design Thinking Methods (7 mins)
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2.8: Three Steps to Facilitate Design Thinking in Your Team (15 mins)
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2.9: The History of Design Thinking (26 mins)
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2.10: 10 Insightful Design Thinking Frameworks: A Quick Overview (38 mins)
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2.11: The Design Thinking Stages (7 mins)
Lesson 3: Empathise with the People You Design For
To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 4 hours 44 mins.
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3.1: The Power of Empathy (10 mins)
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3.2: What Is Empathy and Why Is It So Important in Design Thinking? (53 mins)
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3.3: How to Develop an Empathic Approach in Design Thinking (27 mins)
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3.4: Empathy – How to Improve Your Designs by Developing Empathy for Your Target Group (53 mins)
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3.5: Probes for Context Mapping – How to Design and Use Them (28 mins)
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3.6: 7 Simple Ways to Get Better Results From Ethnographic Research (21 mins)
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3.7: How to Conduct User Interviews (38 mins)
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3.8: Question Everything (22 mins)
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3.9: The Power of Stories in Building Empathy (17 mins)
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3.10: Choose your own Design Thinking Challenge (8 mins)
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3.11: Build Your Portfolio Project: Empathize (13 mins)
Lesson 4: Define the Design Challenge
To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 3 hours 21 mins.
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4.1: Stage 2 in the Design Thinking Process – Define the Problem by Synthesising Information (13 mins)
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4.2: Methods to Help You Define Synthesise and Make Sense in Your Research (58 mins)
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4.3: Affinity Diagrams: How to Cluster Your Ideas and Reveal Insights (14 mins)
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4.4: Empathy Map – Why and How to Use It (37 mins)
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4.5: Personas – A Simple Introduction (22 mins)
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4.6: Define and Frame Your Design Challenge by Creating Your Point Of View and Ask “How Might We” (27 mins)
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4.7: Stakeholder Mapping: The Complete Guide to Stakeholder Maps (14 mins)
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4.8: Define Your Challenge (7 mins)
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4.9: Build Your Portfolio Project: Define (15 mins)
Lesson 5: Ideate
To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 5 hours 39 mins.
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5.1: What is Ideation – and How to Prepare for Ideation Sessions (26 mins)
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5.2: Understand the Elements and Thinking Modes that Create Fruitful Ideation Sessions (27 mins)
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5.3: Create Some Space – for Ideation Sessions and Design Thinking (11 mins)
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5.4: Create Some Space With d.school (12 mins)
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5.5: Introduction to the Essential Ideation Techniques which are the Heart of Design Thinking (52 mins)
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5.6: Learn How to Use the Best Ideation Methods: Brainstorming, Braindumping, Brainwriting, and Brainwalking (33 mins)
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5.7: Scamper: How to Use the Best Ideation Methods (22 mins)
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5.8: Learn How to Use the Worst Possible Idea Method (12 mins)
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5.9: Learn How to Use the Challenge Assumptions Method (11 mins)
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5.10: Learn How to Use the Analogies Method (15 mins)
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5.11: Learn How to Use Sketching as an Ideation Method (50 mins)
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5.12: How to Select the Best Idea by the End of an Ideation Session (24 mins)
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5.13: 14 Barriers to Ideation and How to Overcome Them (28 mins)
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5.14: Exercise and Discussion: Share Your Reflections on Ideation (9 mins)
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5.15: Build Your Portfolio Project: Ideate (14 mins)
Lesson 6: Prototype and Test
To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 5 hours 3 mins.
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6.1: The Key Benefits of Prototyping (14 mins)
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6.2: Design Thinking: Get Started with Prototyping (46 mins)
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6.3: 6 Common Pitfalls in Prototyping and How to Avoid Them (20 mins)
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6.4: What Kind of Prototype Should You Create? (24 mins)
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6.5: 5 Common Low-Fidelity Prototypes and Their Best Practices (40 mins)
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6.6: Don’t Build It, Fake It First – Prototyping for Mobile Apps (13 mins)
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6.7: Test Your Prototypes: How to Gather Feedback and Maximize Learning (28 mins)
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6.8: 4 Common Pitfalls in Usability Testing and How to Avoid Them to Get More Honest Feedback (21 mins)
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6.9: Heuristic Evaluation: How to Conduct a Heuristic Evaluation (40 mins)
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6.10: Unmoderated Remote Usability Testing (URUT) - Every Step You Take, We Won’t Be Watching You (13 mins)
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6.11: From Prototype to Product: Ensure That Your Solution Is Feasible and Viable (26 mins)
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6.12: Prototyping Process (6 mins)
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6.13: Build Your Portfolio Project: Prototype and Test (20 mins)
Lesson 7: Course Certificate, Final Networking, and Course Wrap-up
To be scheduled.
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7.1: Get Your Course Certificate (1 min)
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7.2: Course Evaluation (1 min)
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7.3: Continue Your Professional Growth (1 min)
How Others Have Benefited
Reid Dickson, United States
“The course is very comprehensive and offers a good balance of mediums to learn from.”
Jenna Franklin, United States
“I enjoyed all of the tools available for download. It helped me easily share this information with others who were interested in design thinking.”
Gillian Tyler, Australia
“There were lots of real world examples particularly from the instructors' work.”
How It Works
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Control your learning.
Lessons are self-paced so you’ll never be late for class or miss a deadline. Learning and life, hand in hand.
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Earn Course Certificates.
Your answers are graded by experts, not machines. Get an industry-recognized Course Certificate to show you’ve put in the work.
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Advance your career.
Grow your professional knowledge by watching Master Classes, networking within our UX community, and more.
Start Advancing Your Career Now
Join us to take “Design Thinking Online Course: The Beginner's Guide”. Take other courses at no additional cost. Make a concrete step forward in your career path today.
Advance my career nowFrequently Asked Questions
When I finish a course, do I have to pay extra to get my certificate?
Can I take more than one course at a time?
With a Student membership, you can take a maximum of two courses at the same time. You can still take as many courses as you would like – free of extra charges – just as long as you finish or drop them so that you don’t have more than two ongoing courses.
I missed the enrollment, and now the course is closed. What can I do?
Don't worry if you missed the course. We will re-run it shortly. One of the reasons we continually open and close courses is in order to control the classroom size.
Networking is a large part of our value proposition, so we want just the right number of people inside the courses. That is also why we display the "XX % percent booked" on our course icons.
Do I have to be online at an exact time to study?
No. You can set your own study schedule. There are no "live sessions" since we have members from all timezones around the world. We are a truly global community.
Thus, once you are enrolled, you can take all the time to complete a given course. Every "classroom" in each course will never close, so you’ll have permanent access to your classmates and your course material (as well as your own answers).
Will I receive a Course Certificate?
Yes. You will get a digital industry-recognized course certificate every time you complete a course. Certificates never expire and can be saved as a .jpg file, so it's easy to be shared. Also, there is no limit to how many certificates you can earn during your membership.
You can see an example of a Course Certificate at the bottom of the Course Catalogue.
I have answered questions in a lesson; when will they be marked/graded?
I have updated my name, but my course certificate is not updated — how can I change it?
Don't worry; once you change your name, your certificate will be updated automatically in the next 48 hours.
I have started my course later than the specified date, are my answers still going to be marked?
Sure! We will be marking all your answers for as long as you are an active member.
How are courses graded?
For how long will I have access to the course materials?
You will have access to the course materials for the entire duration of your membership. So, if you pay for a one-year membership, you will have access for one year. Renewing your membership for a second year means you will have access to one more year, and so on.
New lessons are starting before I have completed the previous lesson(s). Am I going to be locked out of these unfinished lessons?
No, you will not be locked out of any lesson or course. You will have access to all course materials throughout your membership, so there is no pressure to keep at the same pace as the specified lesson release dates.
All we recommend is that you try to stick to the same schedule as other participants. The reason is they may have moved on to other lessons, thereby meaning you could miss out on the social aspects of the course(s).
Do I have a specific date to award my certificates?
No, you can generate your certificate as soon as you score at least 70% of the total course points.
When will I receive my Course Certificate?
Course certificates will be given to participants when they have scored more than 70% or more of the total course points. For example, if a course contains ten lessons each with ten questions, you will receive a course certificate when the instructor has awarded you at least 70 points (70% of the total course points).
There is no specified time that certificates will be awarded — instead, they are given to participants as and when they have answered all questions, even if this is long after the official end date.
How do I add my Certificate to my LinkedIn profile?
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to add your Interaction Design Foundation course(s) to your LinkedIn profile:
Log in to your LinkedIn account, then go to your profile.
Below your profile description, click on the button Add profile section, choose Recommended and then select Add license or certification.
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3. In the following fields add:
Name – Course name
Issuing organization – The Interaction Design Foundation
Check the field “This credential does not expire”
Issue date - Input the date written on your certificate (e.g., May 2021)
Credential ID – Your membership ID number – it's written on your certificate. (For non-members, you can leave this field blank or, if you prefer, insert the certificate ID, which can be extracted from the certificate link. This ID will begin with "mcc_" and be followed by a string of numbers and letters.")
Credential URL: Input the certificate URL provided on your course page
4. Click the Save button.
Congratulate yourself! Earning the certificate is a great accomplishment and now you can share it with the world!
How do I add the Interaction Design Foundation Membership Certificate to my LinkedIn Profile?
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to add your Interaction Design Foundation course(s) to your LinkedIn profile:
Log in to your LinkedIn account, then go to your profile.
Below your profile description, click on the button Add profile section, choose Recommended and then select Add license or certification.
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3. In the following fields add:
Name – Membership Certificate
Issuing organization – The Interaction Design Foundation
Check the field “This credential does not expire”
Issue date - Input the date when you joined our community (e.g., May 2019)
Credential ID – Your membership ID number (it's written on your certificate)
Credential URL: Input the certificate URL provided on your profile page
4. Click the Save button.
It is as simple as that. Now, anyone who visits your profile can see your certificate!
How much will I have to pay for the courses?
After you pay for your membership, you can take as many courses as you want with no additional costs. There are no further charges on top of the membership fee.
Do you provide mostly beginners' or more advanced courses?
How long does it take to complete a course?
You will need approximately 5-8 hours to complete one lesson. Each course has between 3 and 16 lessons.
Once enrolled in a course, you will gain access to a new lesson each week, which you are free to complete without any deadlines and no end date, either.
I scored less than 70% in a course, so I didn't qualify for a certificate. Can I try again?
Yes! Everyone's learning journey looks different, and we'd never stop our members from trying again. To retake a course, just follow these steps:
1. Go to your profile and click on the relevant course you'd like to retake.
2. Underneath your progress bar, you'll see a phrase "UX Courses" with an arrow (>) pointing to a clickable landing page of that course. Click on that link.
3. Once on the landing page, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page. You'll see a red button, which you can simply click to drop the course.
4. Head back to our main list of UX Courses, and re-enroll yourself in the course. You'll all set to try again!
Please note that when you drop a course, you will lose any answers and progress you submitted. We advise that you screenshot or save any answers you'd like to reuse.
In some cases, we can open up lessons for members who are retaking a course, so that they don't have to wait for familiar lessons to unlock each week. If you'd like us to do this for you, please get in touch with our support team at hello@interaction-design.org, and we can help you out.
How do I drop a course?
To drop a course, the following should be done:
1. Visit your profile page and click the 'continue lesson...' button for the course you want to drop.
2. Click the course name link breadcrumb near the top of the page that opens (this only appears in unlocked lessons, not upcoming lessons)
3. Click the red 'drop my course now' button at the bottom of the page that opens
