Mastering Design Thinking

Transform services and product development with design thinking
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Why Master Design Thinking?

Design thinking has emerged as a powerful methodology, revolutionizing how we tackle complex challenges, cultivate creativity, and engineer breakthrough solutions. The global market size was valued at US$7,404.29 million in 2022 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.38 percent during the forecast period, reaching US$11,352.7 million by 2028, as per a 2023 report by Industry Research Company.

Design-driven organizations, including Apple, Coca-Cola, IBM, Nike, Procter & Gamble, and Whirlpool, have outperformed the S&P 500 over the past 10 years by an accumulated 211 percent in what's called the Design Value Index — a portfolio of 16 publicly traded organizations that integrate design thinking into their corporate strategy.

Developed by renowned MIT Sloan faculty, the Mastering Design Thinking program empowers participants to leverage the potential of design thinking with a focus on applied creativity to craft innovative solutions for improving an existing product or setting up a new product.

Who Is It For?

This program is for teams and individuals who want to learn a proven, systematic approach to new product development. Anyone responsible for driving innovation, growth, and the customer experience should attend, including functional and cross-functional teams.

Roles of past participants include professionals from creative, design, customer experience, engineering, innovation, product, R&D, strategy, and UX, such as:

  • Product marketing managers, business analysts, marketing managers, growth managers, R&D managers, product heads

  • Senior designers, UX researchers, UX designers, design engineers, creative managers, UX design consultants, art directors

  • C-suite executives, including chief executive officers, chief operation officers, and chief strategy officers, managing directors, founders, presidents

  • Innovation and growth consultants

Learning Journey

The program presents a meticulously curated learning journey, strategically designed to empower participants in leveraging its benefits without compromising their professional commitments.

Begin your design thinking learning journey with the essential knowledge and hands-on application of learnings from the program.

  • Learn the concepts that drive design thinking

  • Submit your project ideas around user innovations

  • Identify customer needs and user groups

  • Translate needs into product specifications

  • Create a prototype

  • Build out the product architecture

  • Analyze the economics of the innovation

  • Choose the right development process

  • Present your final ideas and get real-time feedback

Program Experience

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140+ Video Lectures

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3 Live Teaching Sessions

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3 Group Projects

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10 Assignments

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1 Capstone Project

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6 Real-World Applications

Program Topics

Seamlessly blending in-depth faculty sessions with group projects and assignments, this program fosters collaborative learning through peer interactions and a team-based capstone project, creating a lasting peer network of value beyond program completion.

Capstone Project

The capstone project is the culmination of your Mastering Design Thinking program experience, enabling you to present an in-depth analysis of a proposed product or service. It enables you to apply design thinking principles, empowering you to address intricate business challenges with ingenious solutions. This project involves a comprehensive analysis of a proposed product or service. You will utilize the Real-Win-Worth it (RWW) screening process to ensure the solution's viability, environmental impact, and financial feasibility.

Top-performing teams will have the opportunity to present their projects to Professor Steven Eppinger, based on criteria such as the solution's innovation, presentation quality, and application of RWW metrics. This challenge will showcase your design thinking expertise and strategic capabilities, demonstrating your ability to craft innovative solutions that cater to genuine customer needs.

Case Studies

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Apple

Learn how Apple has succeeded by designing products and services that address a key customer need: ease of use.

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Boeing

Review an example of a fully comprehensive prototype and test via the complex system of Boeing’s 787-9 twin engine commercial airplane.

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Bank of America

Examine two innovations Bank of America developed based on customer needs regarding savings, and review their process for developing these service innovations.

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Zipcar

Review Zipcar’s 11-step service experience cycle and how each step needed to be designed both from a customer and business perspective for this complex process to succeed.

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Hewlett-Packard

Explore how Hewlett-Packard builds products on multiple platforms using modular architectures to satisfy different markets.

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Nespresso

Study how Nespresso’s two cash flows—for machines and for coffee—affect its product development considerations, and learn about financial analysis for projects via an examination of its recycling program.

What Participants Say

I truly believe that the program fulfilled my expectations and even exceeded them. I was a little skeptical about the online format, but I believe it provided full value for money, and I now feel equi...
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Lars Tamstrup Axelsson
Principal R&D Engineer, Ferrosan Medical Devices A/S
The program offers rich content and a standardized process that effectively boosts the rate of innovation success.
Manoj Chatterjee
Cloud DevOps & Automation Lead, Shell
I thoroughly loved the interactive networking sessions and collaborating with my team. I wanted a structured approach to design thinking with a technical edge and I believe that is what I got.
Rangena Hotaki
Founder/CEO, DesignOvation Strategies, LLC
The program offers numerous innovative approaches to structured problem resolution through its highly applicable content.
Sergio Chavez
Principal Technical Data Management Consultant, Shell International
The program consistently provided numerous exceptional real-world examples across every module, and was very product-centric.
Ryan Hall
Director of Innovation, Radius
It was refreshing to learn new techniques and how to see products from my own perspective and from the perspective of the customer.
Jesus Perez
Product & Channel Coordinator, PSS
The real-world examples and presentations by David Robertson offered relatable context that truly complemented our learning experience.
Othel Rolle
Technical Product Management, The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson

Faculty

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Steven Eppinger

General Motors Leaders for Global Operations Professor of Management; Professor of Management Science and Engineering Systems; Co-Director, System Design and Management Program

Steven D. Eppinger served as deputy dean of MIT Sloan from 2004 to 2009, as faculty co-director of the Leaders for Global Operations (formerly MIT Leaders for Manufacturing) a...

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Matthew Kressy

Director and Founder, MIT Integrated Design and Management (IDM); Senior Lecturer at MIT; Principal, Designturn, Inc.

Matthew S. Kressy, director and founder of the MIT Integrated Design and Management (IDM) master’s degree track, is an expert in product design and development. As an entrepre...

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David Robertson

Senior Lecturer at MIT

David Robertson is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he teaches product development and digital product management. Prior to MIT, David was a prof...

Certificate

Certificate

Get a verified digital certificate of completion from MIT Sloan School of Management. This program also counts towards an MIT Sloan Executive Certificate.

After successful completion of the program, your verified digital certificate will be emailed to you, at no additional cost, in the name you used when registering for the program. All certificate images are for illustrative purposes only and may be subject to change at the discretion of MIT Sloan.

Learn new skills with your colleagues and get special enrollment. Discounts up to 20% are available.

Learn more

Didn't find what you were looking for? Write to us at learner.success@emeritus.org or Schedule a call with one of our Program Advisors or call us at +44 150 730 4811 (UK) / +1 401 264 8575 (US) / +65 3138 5193 (SG)

FAQs

Early Registrations Are Encouraged. Seats Fill Up Quickly!

Flexible payment options available.

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