Design Thinking Program Curriculum

The Design Thinking Program meets the same high academic standards of Bellevue graduate programs, with a challenging interdisciplinary curriculum designed to prepare you to analyze, create, and deliver unique experiences. Roll up your sleeves to solve real-world challenges and use innovative practices developed by top companies. Once you've completed this 8-module program, you will receive a Bellevue Certificate suitable for framing.

Module 1

INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN THINKING​

Learn a practical definition of Design Thinking and how it's used to solve business, technology, and social problems across industries.

• Define design thinking as an effective approach to creative problem-solving.
• Understand how human-centered design and methodology influence Design Thinking.
• Review practices and case studies of Design Thinking in the real world.

Module 2

DESIGNING FOR EMPATHY​

Use case studies to understand and apply empathy in business environments and discover the value of empathy-based research and elicitation.

• Identify effective approaches and tools for research.
• Design conversations and interviews that honor stakeholders.
• Frame statements that facilitate problem-solving.

Module 3

INTRODUCTION TO VISUALIZATION​

Discover the most common visualization tools in design thinking and the best methods for collaborating to explore and understand ideas.

• Align the right visualizations to the right design thinking tools.
• Learn the visualization tools that best fit specific challenges.
• Explore the use of visualization tools in real-life scenarios.

Module 4

PERSONA & JOURNEY MAP DESIGN​

Understand the importance of customer experience-based visualizations. Explore how they help define customer attributes and their experiences with your products, services and stakeholders.

• Create personas that describe stakeholder characteristics.
• Build journey maps that help define critical moments of truth.
• Identify the right tools for success measurement in customer experience.

Module 5

IDEATION IN THE DESIGN THINKING PROCESS

Discover the concept of ideation as a process for developing, communicating and synthesizing prescriptive ideas to others to solve the right problem.

• Develop creative processes for developing new ideas.
• Understand mind-mapping and brainstorming approaches.
• Learn best practices for ideation workshops.

Module 6

PROTOTYPING​

Uncover potential approaches for prototyping concepts, products and services that solve problems.

• Understand low and high-fidelity prototyping.
• Design approaches for bringing ideas to life.
• Discuss prototyping approaches and tools.

Module 7
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VALIDATION​

Leverage previous module knowledge of ideation and prototype design to help design thinkers properly test and validate ideas and prototypes.

• Identify methods for researching and validating outcomes.
• Evaluate recommendations for stakeholder collaboration and participation.
• Develop considerations for design validation.

Module 8

IMPLEMENTATION & APPLICATION​

Create a plan for implementing design thinking principles and tools at your organization and for aligning with the ROI of internal projects and stakeholders.

• Develop processes for deployment and launch.
• Explore collaboration methods with stakeholders and success partners.
• Design plans for applying design thinking at your organization.