Today’s workplace calls for a new style of leadership to embolden and accelerate innovation. Design offers a novel way to discover market opportunities, experiment to validate concepts and mitigate risk, and deliver value to all stakeholders. This course offers hands-on experience applying human-centered design process to real-world challenges, and requires you to explore the world around you. Learn how to engage with end users, effectively frame problems, identify potential solutions, and build prototypes to test assumptions and learn what works (and doesn’t). Then dive into a range of ways large and small to bring design innovation into your organization.
This course is part of the Organizational Leadership Specialization
Leadership Through Design Innovation
Offered By
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week
14 hours to complete
Using Design Principles to Innovate and Find Opportunities
You will learn that the first step in the design process is finding opportunities. Human-centered designers do so by immersing themselves in a particular user context to identify areas of focus for design innovation.
10 videos (Total 46 min), 4 readings, 1 quiz
10 videos
Design is about People5m
Adopting the Traits of a Design Innovator6m
Uncovering Opportunities with a Design Innovation Mindset4m
Design Research6m
Tools and Techniques for Design Research5m
Observations to Insights6m
Generating How Might We (HMW) Questions from Insights3m
4 readings
Meet Your Professors10m
Course Grading & Logistics10m
Suggested Readings (Optional)10m
Optional Reading: Empathy on the Edge10m
Week
22 hours to complete
Exploring Ideas
How do we take the opportunities that we've uncovered and turn them into new possibilities? In this module we'll explore ideation, sketching, and storyboarding as tools to generate and communicate ideas.
3 videos (Total 15 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz
1 reading
Supplementary Visuals & Exercises10m
Week
34 hours to complete
Prototyping to Learn
It is easy to think of prototypes as “drafts” of the final design, but in this module we’ll teach you to think of prototypes a bit differently: as tools for learning. We will discuss approaches for maximizing the amount that you learn from prototypes, and iterating your way rapidly toward outstanding results.
6 videos (Total 51 min), 1 quiz
6 videos
Preparing to Test Prototypes with Users5m
Testing Prototypes with Users8m
The Role of Prototypes in Decision-Making and Leadership14m
Week
44 hours to complete
Leading Design Innovation
How do you bring design innovation to your organization and sustain it over time? In this module we will learn theory and practical techniques to help you lead an organization that routinely produces innovative products, services, and systems.
6 videos (Total 26 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz
6 videos
Creating Space for Design & Innovation4m
ROI for Innovation4m
Conclusion to Course 5 with Dean Blount1m
3 readings
Design Worksheet10m
Example Completed Design Worksheet10m
Optional Reading: Design Thinking Comes of Age10m
4.2
45 Reviews50%
started a new career after completing these courses
29%
got a tangible career benefit from this course
14%
got a pay increase or promotion
Top reviews from Leadership Through Design Innovation
SO far I've enjoyed it and it's the course why I started the specialization for, and instead of taking it separate from the others, it's way better to have the full track to get the 360 view
Enjoyed the journey through the course. The projects are integral to gain confidence on applying design thinking. However, they are time intensive and require commitment.
Instructors
Elizabeth Gerber
Associate Professor, Co-director of the Research Cluster at the Segal Design InstituteMcCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science (Segal Design Institute), School of Communication, Kellogg School of Management (by courtesy), School of Education and Social Policy (by courtesy)
Pam Daniels
Clinical Assistant Professor, Design Innovator in ResidenceMcCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (Segal Design Institute)
Ed Colgate
Allen and Johnnie Breed University Design Professor, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Director of the Engineering Design and Innovation Masters Program at the Segal Design InstituteMcCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
Greg Holderfield
Pentair - D. Eugene and Bonnie L. Nugent Clinical Associate Professor of Design, Director of the Segal Design Institute, Co-Director of the MMM ProgramMcCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science (Segal Design Institute)
About Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research and teaching university with campuses in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, and Doha, Qatar. Northwestern combines innovative teaching and pioneering research in a highly collaborative environment that transcends traditional academic boundaries.
About the Organizational Leadership Specialization
Equip yourself to successfully lead organizations through clarity of purpose and effective collaboration — by building and motivating teams; designing and delivering powerful stories; developing strategies to appropriately influence; understanding underlying customer analytics and applying innovative approaches to deliver impact.
How do aspiring managers succeed in an ever-changing business environment? How do they lead different groups to action? This specialization equips aspiring managers to lead change and leverage different roles and functions within for-profit institutions to create lasting value in the marketplace. Throughout the five courses, we will explore how great leaders assess themselves and lead collaborative teams that effectively manage negotiations and conflict. We will discover how leaders communicate through storytelling and employ other communication strategies to influence. Furthermore, we will learn how organizations start with the clarity of purpose that comes from an understanding of customers’ needs, including leveraging data analytics, and use that focus to drive the design of products and services to meet those needs effectively. At the end of the coursework, students will create a capstone project that allows them to apply what they have learned.
Each of the individual courses can be audited for free: 1-High Performance Collaboration: Leadership, Teamwork, and Negotiation, 2-Leadership Communication for Maximum Impact: Storytelling, 3-Leadership Through Social Influence, 4-Leadership Through Marketing, 5-Leadership Through Design Innovation.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Once you enroll for a Certificate, you’ll have access to all videos, quizzes, and programming assignments (if applicable). Peer review assignments can only be submitted and reviewed once your session has begun. If you choose to explore the course without purchasing, you may not be able to access certain assignments.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
What is the refund policy?
Is financial aid available?
More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.
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