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Have you ever thought of what makes our life interesting, fascinating? Is it our external desires or our internal stimulus?

Although both to some extent, realistically, what I feel is that our external desires are temporary but fulfilling our internal desire is something which our soul urges us to satisfy.

Hence, Creativity, imagination, and innovation are the key ingredients of what our life yearns for and that is not possible till we get rid of our comfort zone. Just like a snake sheds old skin before the new one comes

Let me discuss the importance of the 3 key factors

• Creativity is experimenting, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes
• Imagination gives you the reason to survive and fulfill your dreams
• Innovation is thinking about what nobody has ever thought

Hence, all 3 things give us wings to fly and add the bubbles of freshness, uniqueness, and difference.

As quoted by APJ Abdul Kalam “When Life is purposeful, creativity blossoms. When creativity blossoms, thinking emanates due to which our knowledge gets fully lit and the economy flourishes as a result.

Hence, life is never ending learning as it continues to teach us till the very end

With this, I come to our today’s topic of Design thinking which is directly related to words like creativity, innovation, and imagination along with empathizing with others. Design Thinking is an action for solving problems innovatively. Moreover, it is a human-centred core.  Design thinking courses in USA foster companies to focus on the people they are creating for, which leads to better products and services. It gives a solution-based approach to solve problems. Furthermore, it also helps to scrutinize and evolve empathy with the target user.

Now, coming to the Top 10 Design Thinking programs in the USA

1.Henry Harvin

Ranked no.#1 Design Thinking course in the industry. Online and classroom facility is also available.

Henry Harvin provides you the potential to accept challenges, redefine problems, and evolve ingenious solutions. This course alludes to five phases like Empathy, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and test.

• Empathy- This step will help you to gain insights into users. You can also come to know about their needs to solve their problems.
• Define- In this phase, you can gather the entire data, and after analyzing you can ascertain the problems.
• Ideate- This stage is indispensable to generate ideas and think out of the box. You can enhance your cognitive skills by brainstorming while generating a plethora of ideas.
• Prototype-  This is a practical phase. You can investigate the accuracy of your ideas after conducting experiments and upshot the solutions for further process.
• Test- This is the final stage of design thinking where the evaluators can formulate alternative solutions. Design thinking is iterative so, evaluators have to return previous phases for refinement and alteration.

Key Features

10+ Projects to upgrade skills

Practical knowledge of Design thinking tools is gained

Curriculum globally accepted

Connect with strong alumni network of more than 1650 learners

1-year membership of Management academy free which would include complete Job support, skill enhancement sessions to crack interviews, e – learning access, 12 monthly brush up sessions, 100% internship opportunities

Trusted by 160+ Corporates like Abbott pharma, Avon cosmetics, Deloitte, Apollo tyres and 50+ colleges like IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi

Candidates receive certificate after clearing online exam after the training is over

 Project support with case studies

100% fee Reimbursement if not satisfied after the first session

Academy is affiliated with Government of India, American association of EFL

Henry Harvin  Design and thinking course Fee

https://www.henryharvin.com/design-thinking-course#upcoming-batches

Media link

Henry Harvin Design Thinking Course Ranks #1 by India Today

Henry Harvin also provides these courses

• Blockchain Certification Training Course
• Product Management Course
• HR US Payroll Course Training
• HR UK Payroll Course Training

Cities in India where Henry Harvin Korean Language Course is Provided:

Bhopal, Cochin, Bangalore, Delhi, Lucknow, Surat, Online, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai

2. University of VIRGINIA’S Darden Business school

Design Thinking & innovation specialization

Duration

four five-week course

Cost: $1,600

Led by Strategist and Senior associate dean Jeanne Liedtka who has written many books on Design Thinking and has covered topics like five tools for human-centered

Design and balancing short-term and long-term goals.

3.  University of TORONTO- ROTMAN’S BUSINESS DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS

Best known in Tech circles as the home of seed-stage incubator Creative Destruction Lab. Roger Martin who was a well-known Business Strategist who helped Design Thinking into the broader consciousness was the long-time dean of Rotman.

This course starts with a two- day intensive introduction to Design-thinking methods, then into the finer points of business design sprints.

Course has been designed and launched by lecturer Angele Beausoleil who had penned a Design Thinking case last year in Salon

Cost: $4,250 CAD

4.  STANFORD UNIVERSITY’S DESIGN THINKING BOOTCAMP: FROM INSIGHTS TO INNOVATION

Launched by IDEO co-founder David Kelley, credited for popularizing Design Thinking.

 This full-time, four-day intensive course is quite genuine. Its curriculum and strong alumni make it a must to be considered.

 Spring, summer and fall are the 3 seasons when sessions are held

Cost: $13,000

5. THE DESIGN GYM’S DESIGN THINKING BOOTCAMP

It is an NYC-based consultancy which specializes in corporate training, project sprints and also hosts day-long design-thinking boot camps in NYC that covers important topics and shares and discusses the concept implementation stories by GE and Marriott.

For beginners, one can opt for a cheaper sampler, the semi-regular three-hour Design Thinking Crash Course ($60).

Else the Cost is: $595

6. GENERAL ASSEMBLY’S DESIGN THINKING BOOTCAMP

It is well known for its software, UX and data science coursework. However, it is also in the DT (Design Thinking) game.

Reasonably Priced

Single day onsite option available

Boot camps have been offered in Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, and Washington, DC in the past

 GA has some online courses. However, the DT bootcamp is not among them.

Cost: $195

7. IBM’S ENTERPRISE DESIGN THINKING COURSES

New York times explored in 2015 that IBM had incorporated the Design thinking concept in their business and was quite happy with the results. In the year 2018, they started offering online design thinking courses based on their own experience.

Short and specialized courses (a three-hour application of design thinking) to intensive (a three- to six-week team-based lesson sequence).

Cost: $300 (full access)

8. CORNELL UNIVERSITY’S DESIGN THINKING CERTIFICATE

Was launched in 2018. A lecturer at the Cornell College of Engineering developed it.

It is six three-week courses that cover the following:

• Challenges around user needs
• understanding user emotions
• building user narratives
• brainstorming solutions; prototyping
• testing and iteration.

Students will have to devote between three and five hours per week and complete multiple choice quizzes in each course, plus a final project. Courses include instructor-moderated discussions.

Cost: $3,600

9.MIT SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT’S MASTERING DESIGN THINKING

It is a three-month online course roughly.

Designed by one of the nation’s preeminent business schools and comprised of 128 video lectures, also covers the DT basics as well as a more advanced subject matter like financial modeling for projects and green product design approaches.

Moreover, it has learning module for service design and three live teaching sessions to inject some personalization.

Students can expect to spend six to eight hours weekly.

Cost: $3,300

10. INTERACTION DESIGN FOUNDATION DESIGN THINKING: BEGINNER’S GUIDE

An Open – Source non-profit offers nearly 30 courses framed around user experience, including a 12-hour design-thinking intro. 

It is a very popular and highly rated seven-week course (one lesson is available per week) is based on the traditional design-thinking framework of building user empathy, problem definition, ideation and prototyping, and testing.

It is a process of solving problems creatively by observing people’s behavior, understanding what exactly their needs are, and empathizing with them to fulfill them. It is a human-centered approach

It is a very flexible concept encouraging trials and testing. Therefore, it does not abide by set rules or principles

        This approach is used in companies for 2 reasons:

• While creating a new product as Design thinking helps to innovate by personalizing with its target audience so that their needs can be understood and catered to accordingly

• For solving complex problems creatively by conducting surveys, taking feedbacks from the customers which will help them find an appropriate resolution by thinking what is technically feasible and economically viable leading to the creation of prototypes and then testing their effectiveness.

What is exactly Design thinking?

Importance of Design thinking

• Tackles ill-defined or unknown issues
• Re- frames problem by focussing on people-centric ways
• adopts Brainstorming techniques to create new ideas
• Usage of a hands-on approach in prototyping and testing

Benefits of Design thinking

• Provides you with an opportunity to view a problem from a different perspective
• Finding the root cause of an issue
• Challenges the professional to give birth to their innovative thinking and creative problem-solving as every human has his/ her creative side which they do not feel like exploring by tagging themselves as “lack of creativity” in oneself
• Ensuring that the final output meets client requirements and customer satisfaction
• Encourages you to expand your knowledge through continuous feedback and evaluation
• Helps to understand your current employee experience
• Designing cultural and engagement initiatives, recognition programs

Design thinking involves 5 main phases

• Empathy- basically means putting yourself in customer’s or client’s shoes to understand their needs and design accordingly
• Define- This is the stage where you analyze your observations based on the information you have collected during the first stage and you finally define the core problems that you have identified till this point
• Ideate- is when you generate new ideas and solutions through brainstorming sessions, sketching, prototyping, the worst possible idea
• Prototype- is a sample or model of a product built to test the process or concept
• Testing- involves evaluation or feedback sharing by client or user to show you the real picture of your product

Best tools for each Design Thinking stage

• Empathize: Typeform, Zoom, Creatlr.
• Define : Smaply, Userforge, MakeMyPersona.
• Ideate: SessionLab, Stormboard, IdeaFlip.
• Prototype: Boords, Mockingbird, POP.
• Test: UserTesting, HotJar, PingPong.

Usage of Design tools

• Influence the production process
• Impacts the expression and perception of design ideas

Hence, needs to be applied skillfully with intelligence

Till now we might have got a good understanding of what design thinking is all about but if we separate Design from thinking then let us see what is the

Power of Design alone

• Catchy and innovative Designs makes it easier for customers to use your website
• Attract the right user to your brand by tapping into the viewer’s psyche and emotions
• Conveys your brand value and image in just a few seconds

The 3 main purposes of Design are: –

• Communication is required and is very imperative to communicate the ideas and thoughts about their work clearly to their end-users
• Aesthetics- defines a design’s pleasing qualities. Includes factors like color, pattern, shape
• Functionality- Purpose for which design is developed which should be simple, concise, easy to comprehend by its targeted users. Moreover, it should have a visual sophistication attached to it.

Interesting facts

Larry Leifer inventor of Design thinking and founding director of Stanford center for design research although the term “Design thinking” and its practice is often credited to IDEO.

Design thinking turned Apple into a market disruptor by designing more user friendly products till date

Nike also followed the concept of design thinking much before it developed as a concept. By using this approach, they used innovation and design to create high technology products to not only improve the athletic performance but also to create an image as a fashion brand

Infosys uses design thinking to increase innovative opportunities and to optimize their workforce problem-solving skills. They feel that it is the most effective technique to extract the creative power and true potential of any firm.

Nordstrom– One of the most Customer centric company of the world

Companies applying Design Thinking successfully

• Nordstrom. 
• Bank of America.
• Starbucks
• Nike
• Oral B. …
• GE Healthcare.
• Apple
• IBM

Application of Design thinking in organizations

• Start on a smaller scale. It cannot be implemented in your company magically by day end
• Identify early adopters and persuasive preachers
• By understanding that it is a fluid process. Hence, very flexible in its approach
• Recognizing how you will measure success
• Encourage and boost innovation along with design thinking

Skills required to build your career in Design

• Empathy
• Learn to draw and see
• Practice solving problems like a designer (Design thinking)
• Understand the fundamentals of design
• Gain specialization in an area of design
• Select your design tools
• Becoming an expert in the business of design
• Develop your portfolio

Exciting Career paths for innovators like you

• Graphic designer
• User experience (UX) designer
• Photographer
• Interior designer
• Multimedia artist & animator
• Art director
• Advertising & promotions manager
• Fashion designer
• Design Entrepreneur
• Hybrid Design Researcher
• Business Designer

Note- Average salary of a professional who knows Design Thinking is ₹24 lakhs mostly ranging from ₹10 lakhs to ₹50 lakhs 

There are 7 highly paid fields within the Design industry

• UX design. UX designs the most well-paid field, also the yearly average salary is $96,505
• Product design
• UI design
• Video game design
• Multimedia art and animation
• Web design
• Exhibit design

In a nutshell, would just like to add that the demand for designing is ever-growing especially due to digitalization and the vast use of social media platforms. Moreover, designing is considered highly competitive. Hence, companies are always in need of creative talent.

Hope this was helpful ?

Keep learning!! Keep Growing!!?

Recommended Reads:

• Top 10 Design Thinking Programs in India
• Top 10 Design Thinking Programs in Bangalore
• Top 10 Best Design Thinking Courses in Delhi
• 10 Best Design Thinking Courses in Chennai 
• What Is Design Thinking? Top Online Design Thinking Courses Available