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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Design Thinking for Innovation by University of Virginia

4.7
stars
8,444 ratings

About the Course

Today innovation is everyone's business. Whether you are a manager in a global corporation, an entrepreneur starting up, in a government role, or a teacher in an elementary school, everyone is expected to get lean – to do better with less. And that is why we all need design thinking. At every level in every kind of organization, design thinking provides the tools you need to become an innovative thinker and uncover creative opportunities that are there – you're just not seeing them yet. In this course, developed at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and taught by top-ranked faculty, we provide an overview of design thinking and work with a model containing four key questions and several tools to help you understand design thinking as a problem solving approach. We also look at several stories from different organizations that used design thinking to uncover compelling solutions....

Top reviews

LM

Sep 22, 2019

I really liked the peer reviews at the end. It was a great way to view other examples of how different projects, industries, and teams have used design thinking. The course was easy to follow as well.

ET

Jan 29, 2023

I learned a new approach by this course. I strongly recommend it to any business person who wants to find innovative solutions for his challenges in daily business life as well as long term solutions.

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76 - 100 of 2,556 Reviews for Design Thinking for Innovation

By Joel S

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Dec 8, 2020

Very good teacher and material. Only flaw: The assignment is a joke since your peers will most likely give you a passing score and dont even bother to read your reflection. Which downgrades the credibility of this course imo.

By Paul M

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Sep 23, 2019

I'd like to see a lot more content and sequential assignments rather than just one at the end. Getting peer reviews was difficult and I would also appreciate at least one tutor review to add greater credibility to my score.

By Shashank J

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Apr 9, 2020

Looks more theoretical.

Overall image seems outdated in terms of video quality.

slides along with running text sync with audio can be more appreciated.

Overall good learning.

By Erick A R A d l S

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Jan 8, 2018

In the videos you should apply the visualization tool to explain ideas further, they are purely verbal and can get to be boring. There should be an assignment for each concept to fully understand the design thinking tools.

It is too vague ; The lack of interaction and assignments don't help.

By James K

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Dec 27, 2018

Lecturer is un-engaging, very little emotion shown and monotonous, just your run off the mill reading-off teleprompter with a poor background.

Slides look like they were created in one of the earlier version of powerpoint so not engaging

By Sean S

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Nov 15, 2017

Could have been better. I learned some of the basics of Design Thinking. The best parts were the Case Studies that were presented. They were interesting and showed the benefit of using Design Thinking. The parts with the most opportunity for improvement were the final exam and cutting out some of the pontificating guests speakers from industry or other schools that really added nothing to the course.

The final exam was not clear to me on the expectations and is really not practical. It was unclear to me whether we were supposed to use a Design Thinking Tool on a problem we were facing, or to share where we used it in the past, or to reflect on how we could have used in the past? Using on a current problem isn't practical, would take too much time, and it would need to be dumbed down to the point no confidential details are being shared. If the assignment was to share where we used in the past, I wouldn't be taking the course as I would already have experience with Design Thinking Tools. I chose to reflect on how I could have used DT tools on a past problem for the final exam. Clarifying the approach in the final exam or changing it completely is recommended.

By Christopher S

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Dec 12, 2019

Compared to other classes, it felt like this course never really got off the ground. Each week there was a series of videos- some of them kind of fluff- had senior speakers from top firms but some of the dialog was a bit rudderless and off the cuff or casual. If these speakers are trying to make a point it should be more concise and possibly, where applicable, linked o the course content from that week. It was clear that they wanted us to buy the book. I think the course should have been more hands on and had an activity / task to lose out the week.

By Yahya S

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May 29, 2020

The course is lower than expectations for me for multiple reasons , I will share the positives and negatives:

positives: the course length is very reasonable ,the course concept is excellent and the instructor language is clear with under stable accent.

negatives: the link between stories and the course contents is weak , the course dose not explain the points clearly and the submission need some work before submitting it which was not mentioned at the beginning of the course.

By Dawn J

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May 26, 2020

Pros: Real life examples of design thinking applied globally.

Cons: I signed up for the course expecting practical frameworks of how to apply design thinking but unfortunately did not receive that as a takeaway. The course materials also failed to define the term design thinking in a succinct way, which alone tells me that the rest of the course is going to be vague and barely sweeping the surface of real-life applications.

By Federico C

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Aug 14, 2019

Good Step description, poor description of tools, no testing at all.

It should be more hands on, and may be more practical. Some videos were too long. No quizzes for following up and capstone was really poor.

Reading the book is way more useful than attending this course.

Week 4 learning launch class was the best one.

By sami h

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Jul 21, 2017

I needed good knowledge in deep of the different phases tools and workshops to be able to run them myself. This course is only an introduction + companies examples that sometimes are not bringing value to the course. A bit disappointed !

By Mahdi J

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Sep 30, 2019

I think the course material needs a more innovative approach. it was kinda boring to just listen to a solo speaker talks about innovation. this course definitely can use some of the material covered here to improve the flow of lectures.

By Stefano F

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Feb 18, 2020

Good course, overall, but quite superficial. I would have liked some more in-depth explanation on some of the tools (like personas, brainstorming or rapid-prototyping)

By Atefeh H

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Mar 23, 2020

Content of the course is so basic comparing to the final work that is expected from the student.

By Axel K

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Feb 3, 2021

Confused .. I thought this is a good course in design thinking methods … but it is a long series of boaring videos .. the final assignment counted 100% … hence in the peer reviews I was confronted with 3 (!) submissions which had nothing to do with the assignment, but where just uploaded PDFs of "something" which might or might not have "something" to do with Design Thinking … This course clearly needs improvement … was it a waste of time … mainly !

By Felipe S d B

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Nov 9, 2016

muito bla bla bla, pouco resultado, pouca comprovacão de funcionamento.

By Louis S D

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Nov 11, 2017

This is a wonderful course and I applaud Prof Liedtka on her teaching methodology combining structure with creativity. Each of the tools listed are really useful in expressing the design thought process in action and every one of the experts have lent their unique perspectives, which have been really helpful in outlining the idea that Design Thinking tries to convey. My only gripe if any would be the assignment rubric, which shackles the author within a very walled framework and defeats the purpose of thinking out of the box. While it offers a precious guideline for the peer to evaluate, it more or less mandates the author to stick within this and it applies some sort of unwritten pressure on the peer to rate only on those defined yardsticks, which again effectively brings down the scope for the writer of the reflection to bring in fresh approaches into their piece. Design Thinking in spirit has to involve a level of creative thinking within a structured framework, but if the structure takes precedence, then in all probability creativity would take an uncomplimentary second position. Please take this for what it is, but be sure that the course and the material have been totally outstanding, and I commend the Darden team for putting this out on Coursera.

By Anirban S

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May 20, 2020

We made a practice to have a design thinking session for most of our new projects and started engaging our work partners and other stakeholders. Our business partners are also keen on participating in these design thinking sessions. We learn from each other’s and came up with some innovative solutions

We have reduced the risk of heavy investment by using test and learn and prototype. We are open to out of box ideas and getting support from business partners and management

We have now started thinking more like an end customer or end users which defiantly enhances the quality of our solution and brings innovations. With a test and learn and developing prototypes we have reduced the risk of huge investment.

Customer co-creation and celebrating our success through story-telling is in best used and ensuring substance of the approach and product. Our story is simple but effective, It’s easy to replicate.

Team is motivated, Work partners are happy and being part of the management team, I am enjoying the journey.

Thank you.

By Roberto d G

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Jun 8, 2023

Professor Liedtka's course on design thinking surpassed my expectations, offering a thorough understanding of the subject. Her passion and expertise were evident throughout her engaging discussions. She had a talent for simplifying complex concepts, making them accessible and relatable. The practical applications of design thinking were skillfully illustrated through real-world examples. Professor Liedtka fostered an inclusive learning environment that encouraged active participation and respected diverse perspectives. Her exceptional teaching abilities and deep knowledge of design thinking enriched the course. I now have a profound appreciation for design thinking and its potential impact on future endeavors in the field of design.

By Nilabh U

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Sep 8, 2018

There are many approaches to problem solving and as its a vague and non conventional process often, it leads to directionless hard work and in turn deviates from the expected results. That is where Design Thinking comes in, and this course has helped me learn the structure of problem solving which can be applied universally regardless of what the problems are. I learnt that the approach to innovation is as important than the actual ideas itself and I am amazed at how much I have changed after completing this course. Results are of course rewarding but I am enjoying the process just as much.

I am thankful to Prof. Jeanne Liedtka and others for building this course and I hope I'll keep learning more and more in time to come.

By Aaron P

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Oct 11, 2020

Gracias por la forma en la que está construido el curso, realmente tener ejemplos reales en donde se aplica la metodología hace fácil de incluirla en nuestro quehacer diario, si bien esta metodología se ha desarrollado desde hace mucho tiempo, los abordajes de cada persona e institución varían, y al conocerlos, agregan valor para implementarlos dentro de los proyectos de niveles económicos, sociales, políticos y tecnológicos que se pueden desarrollar en nuestra institución. Si bien un servidor ya había tenido algún tipo de capacitación en esta metodología, la que presentan aquí tiene nuevas formas de aplicación. Agradezco a los instructores por su entusiasmo y compromiso con este tipo de iniciativas. Gracias.

By Pinaki B

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Aug 1, 2019

This empowers the though process end to end. This provided the style to approach any new or existing problem to think through by the means of its core pain point. Then the transition towards solution quadrant in correspondence to each pain point before sketching the High Level picture of any Design topic. This makes the design mind map discrete per step, visibility of approach becomes distinct. Visualization approach has been followed to make the traversal of whole path end to end with less chances of disputes at later point of time; and the same provides a wider spectrum to think deeper with more features and facilities to get adopted. Thank you so much for constructing this course so nicely!

By Tanguy D L

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May 10, 2019

This course should be mandatory in the unlearning process of 20st century management habits that no longer fit to the current societal challenges . It took me over 1,5 year to 'process' the course; I dived in the videos, listened to them in the car and during holidays back and forth, got lost, rescheduled, gave up, and finally came back in a focused way, what a journey, I am very proud of. The insights have changed my way of viewing the world challenges, have made me discover new patters, and provided my both a peace of mind between left and right brain thinking (you have to trust and be 'in the moment') as well as reconnecting to this random childhood creativity.

By Alcibiades E R D

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Aug 1, 2020

Muy buen curso, da una explicación general pero bastante completa de los conceptos fundamentales de Design Thinking. Todas las explicaciones hacen uso de ejemplos de casos reales para complementar las clases. Además de esto se enseñan herramientas prácticas, relacionadas con el tema pero que tienen aplicación en cualquier tipo de negocio./Very good course, it gives a general but quite complete explanation of the fundamental concepts of Design Thinking. All the explanations make use of real case examples to complement the classes. In addition to this, practical tools are taught, related to the subject but that have application in any type of business.

By Chak M A Y

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Oct 10, 2020

I have gone through quite a lot of design thinking training both online and in person. I have to say the Design Thinking for Innovation course by Jeanne is by far the most practical and relatable process to apply at a normal workplace where processes and working are dominated by conventional business analysis driven approaches. The 4-question framework brings design down to earth for the rest of us and I especially recommend the discussions on learning launches in Week 4. It is something that everyone can practice at a manageable scale without the need to part the Red Sea.