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Explore the Best Online Courses on Design Thinking in 2024!

Updated: Jan 11

As the professional landscape evolves, continually enhancing your skill set is crucial for career growth. In today’s dynamic environment, acquiring new skills not only adds value to your profile but also opens doors to diverse opportunities. 

Best Online Courses on Design Thinking

These courses have been meticulously curated from around the web, and offer valuable insights from industry experts and renowned institutions without breaking the bank. From renowned institutions like Acumen Academy, IDEO U, University of Virginia, University of Queensland, Harvard Business School Online, and Interaction Design Foundation, these courses provide practical exercises, real-world projects, and expert guidance.

 

This course is an excellent, hands-on learning experience that focuses on the human-centered approach to problem-solving and innovation. IDEO.org is IDEO's nonprofit sister organization, and Acumen Academy is the academic wing of nonprofit impact investing firm, Acumen.

Best Online Courses on Design Thinking - IDEO.org Acumen

Over 7 weeks, you'll learn how to apply IDEO.org's 4-step process, from conducting user interviews to prototyping and implementation. Activities such as mini design challenges, brainstorming, and creating prototypes will sharpen your skills. The course emphasizes empathy, understanding user needs, and fostering innovative thinking.

What I personally loved about this course was the team exercises that allow you collaborate with teammates from around the world and apply design thinking to tackle real-world social challenges.


Duration: Approx. 7 weeks (self-paced)

Certification: Statement of Accomplishment from IDEO.org and Acumen Academy

Assessment: Graded assignments and quizzes, applied learning project

Fee: Free or "Pay what you can". You can choose how much you'd like to pay, if anything, and that goes towards keeping the course running.

Free audit available? : Yes, you can access the course content for free without certification or graded assignments.







Best Online Courses on Design Thinking - University of Virginia - Coursera

The "Design Thinking for Innovation" course offered by the University of Virginia on Coursera provides a comprehensive overview of the Design Thinking process. It focuses on developing innovative solutions through empathy, ideation, and prototyping. Participants will learn how to apply Design Thinking principles and methods to solve complex problems and generate creative ideas.

The course emphasizes a human-centered approach and equips learners with practical tools and techniques to foster innovation.


Level: Beginner

Duration: Approx. 6 hours (self-paced)

Certification: Certificate of Completion from the University of Virginia and Coursera

Assessment: Graded assignments and quizzes.

Fee: Fee for certification and graded assignments. Check Coursera for fee details in your region

Free audit available? : Yes, you can access the course content for free without certification or graded assignments






If you'd like to dive deeper into Design Thinking, the University of Virginia also offers a 4-course specialization program on Coursera. This program does not include the course "Design Thinking for Innovation" Feel free to audit the courses to choose the one that's best for you.


Best Online Courses on Design Thinking - Univ of Virginia Specialization Coursera

This 4-course Design Thinking Specialization is an immersive and hands-on learning experience that will help you master the key competencies of design thinking. Through a practical, project-based approach, you'll be guided through a detailed 14-step process to tackle real-world problems from a human-centered perspective. You'll learn how to generate innovative ideas and establish meaningful connections with your target audience.

You can take each of the 4 courses individually or as part of the specialization program.

The highlight of the specialization is the Applied Learning Project, where you'll put your knowledge into action by working on a project of your choice. By applying essential tools and techniques, you'll gain practical experience in idea generation, testing, and achieving project goals.


Level: Beginner

Duration: Approx. 1 month, at 10 hours a week, (self-paced)

Certification: Certificate from the University of Virginia and Coursera

Assessment: Graded assignments and quizzes, applied learning project

Fee: Fee for certification and graded assignments. Check Coursera for fee details in your region

Free audit available? : Yes, you can access the course content for free without certification or graded assignments






Best Online Courses on Design Thinking - Queensland EdX

The "Design Thinking and Creativity for Innovation" course by the University of Queensland on EdX is a 10-week program that will teach you the fundamentals of design thinking and innovation. You'll gain insights into the design thinking process, learn to generate better ideas, and validate them for impact. With a focus on customer discovery and market value, you'll discover how to bring your ideas to life and create meaningful impact.


Level: Intermediate

Duration: Approx. 10 weeks at 8-10 hours a week (self-paced)

Certification: Certificate of Completion from University of Queensland (UQx) and EdX

Assessment: Graded assignments and quizzes

Fee: Free audit or fee for certificate and graded assignments. Check EdX for pricing in your region.






Best Online Courses on Design Thinking - IDEO U

Here's a chance to learn from the pioneers of human-centered approaches to business. Discover and apply the fundamental principles of design thinking with renowned global design and innovation giant, IDEO. This program is crafted to provide you with a hands-on understanding of crucial design thinking skills and mindsets, laying a strong foundation for practical application.


This certificate program consists of two courses, "Insights for Innovation" and "From Ideas to Action". You will learn about customer-centric design with techniques to understand and meet social, emotional, and physical needs. You'll gain insights into innovative solutions, de-risk ideas through rapid prototypes, and showcase your skills with real-world projects.


Level: Beginner

Duration: Approx. 2-3 months at 4 hours a week.

Certification: Certificate from IDEO U

Assessment: Graded assignments and quizzes, capstone project

Fee: $1298 as of Jan 2024






The "Design Thinking and Innovation" course by Harvard Business School Online is designed to help you develop a strategic innovation toolkit and learn how to apply design thinking and innovative problem-solving techniques.

Best Online Courses on Design Thinking - Harvard Business School Online

The course will teach you how to approach problems using structured methods of gathering observations, generating creative ideas, and implementing solutions. It includes 7 modules covering various aspects of design thinking and innovation. The modules focus on topics such as empathy and understanding, ideation, behavior change analysis, prototyping, communication, and more.


This course is beneficial for aspiring or current innovation managers, entrepreneurs, product managers, developers, and marketers who are interested in developing an innovation mindset and toolkit.


Level: Beginner/Intermediate

Duration: Approx. 7 weeks at 6-8 hours a week.

Certification: Certificate of Completion from Harvard Business School Online

Assessment: Graded assignments and quizzes, capstone project

Fee: USD 1,750







Best Online Courses on Design Thinking - Interaction Design Foundation

In this design thinking course, you'll learn how to apply innovative and user-centric solutions to your problems using practical design thinking methods at every stage. From employing ethnographic and analysis methods to fast prototyping and reducing risks, you'll gain a comprehensive understanding of the value of design thinking in various fields.

In addition to real-world examples, case studies, and videos, this course contains a series of practical exercises that build on one another to create a complete design thinking project. You will work in teams of diverse learners from around the world, making it a good networking opportunity as well.


Level: Beginner/Intermediate

Duration: Approx. 8 weeks at 3-4 hours a week.

Certification: Certificate of Completion from the Interaction Design Foundation

Assessment: Graded assignments and exercises.

Fee: Paid Pro membership that will give you access to all their courses. Check the website for pricing in your region.






Remember to explore the course details, syllabus, and reviews to choose the ones that align best with your learning goals and preferences. Courses on Coursera and EdX typically offer a free audit option in case you'd like to view the learning material before committing to a course and paying for your certification.


Let's #BuildThatSkill and embrace the transformative power of Design Thinking! Stay tuned to my blog for more curated lists of free or budget-friendly online courses and learning opportunities.


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