Online Courses Design Thinking Design Thinking for Innovation: Elevate
self pacedUPSKILL

Design Thinking for Innovation: Elevate

Pay-in-full online
from $2,520*(RRP $2,800)
From $53.85 per week

Upskill and boost your career with in-demand Design Thinking skills. You’ll learn how to develop a Design Thinking mindset, influence outcomes within your business, become a driver of change, and much more.

*Save on our Elevate courses when you pay in full!

We’re launching a subscription model for all Elevate courses.

Academy Xi students now have the option to subscribe to our entire range of Elevate courses across all our portfolios for a monthly fee. Use this as a way to gain a wider digital skillset and give yourself an advantage as you compete for roles in the ever-changing employment landscape.

Our graduates are now the driving force behind some of Australia’s most innovative brands

Why choose this course?

No prerequisites or previous experience required

Launch your Design Thinking journey today, no matter what level of experience you have! Our beginner-friendly approach will help get you up to speed in no time.

Flexible and self-paced

With 6 months access, the speed at which you tackle online course content is up to you. Study at your own pace and fit learning into your busy lifestyle.

Created for Upskillers

Our Elevate courses help you boost your career with sought-after Design Thinking skills. Unlock higher salaries and job growth potential.

What your curriculum looks like

Upskill in Design Thinking within 6 months. You’ll work through interactive online course content at your own pace, and have the support of an industry mentor when you need it.

  • Module 1
  • Module 2
  • Module 3
  • Module 4
  • Module 5
  • Module 6
  • Module 7
  • Module 8
  • Module 9
  • Module 10

Module 1

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Thinking like a designer
Learn the fundamentals of Design Thinking, where it sits within the wider field of Human-Centred Design, and how you can apply it to drive innovation and solve business problems.

  • Introduction to Human-Centred Design
  • The benefits of Design Thinking to organisations
  • Design Thinking For Innovation 
  • How to collect, analyse and present data to solve a problem
  • Facilitating groups and workshops
  • Using the Double Diamond framework for innovation

Module 2

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Research
A more detailed look into using Design Thinking to research a complex problem, determine the scope of a project, plus a review of best practices for research.

  • Preparing your mindset for Design Thinking
  • Design challenge #1
  • Human-Centred Design research and project scoping 
  • Defining problems: briefs, best practices and problem solving roadmap
  • Quantitative and qualitative research techniques
  • Interviewing
  • Research ethics

Module 3

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Synthesise
Explore how to use data to reframe complex problems and simplify them. Using various collection, mapping and analysis techniques, learn how to make sense of data in a business context.

  • Mind mapping and stakeholder mapping
  • Note-taking and empathy mapping
  • Affinity mapping and analysis
  • Clustering insights
  • Visualising data using personas and journey mapping
  • Prioritisation: matrix and visualising the vote
  • Reframing the problem to unlock innovation
  • Working within business constraints

Module 4

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Make
A deep dive into creative brainstorming, including best practices for prioritising ideas and how to visually present them. Discover how to focus and refine ideas into a strong and cohesive value proposition.

  • Creative Problem Solving
  • Brainstorming, Creative session, Crazy 8’s
  • Concept cards and Prioritisation
  • Prototyping 
  • Narratives and Storyboarding
  • Designing a compelling Value Proposition

Module 5

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Test
Understand why testing is so important, and the different methodologies used. Learn how to communicate this value to the wider business and strategise the way forward. Bring home your conclusions with a retrospective summary of the project.

  • The need for testing with users
  • Usability and Concept testing
  • Testing Your Hypothesis and Validating Concepts
  • Communicating the Business Value 
  • Future Roadmap 
  • Retrospective debrief
  • Reflection, critique and feedback

Module 6

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Designing in teams
In your second challenge, learn how to build a Design Thinking team and run effective workshops. Explore the importance of psychological behavioural research and how to integrate it with economic concerns.

  • Design challenge #2
  • Teams and team formation
  • How to run a Design Thinking workshop 
  • Ethnography, immersive design research & guerilla research
  • Behavioural economics 
  • Developing concepts

Module 7

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Telling the story
The second challenge continues with an examination of test-and-learn methodologies for innovation. Learn how to present compelling business rationales using engaging narratives.

  • Designing for extreme users 
  • Testing a pilot 
  • Business rationale and validating economic viability
  • Storytelling
  • Best practices to deliver amazing presentations

Module 8

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

The nature of problems
Practise your skills with a personal project solving a larger scale design and service problem. Review different thinking styles and decision-making tools to reframe complex problems.

  • Design Challenge #3: Global/societal design problems 
  • Wicked problems 
  • Maximising creativity
  • Thinking styles for empathy and collaboration
  • Radical reframing 
  • Applying Design Thinking to services  
  • A global perspective – Case studies

Module 9

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Design Thinking in organisations
Explore how to introduce and integrate Design Thinking day-to-day within companies, using growth mindset techniques, and developing a speak-up culture. Dissect what a design-led organisation looks like and the importance of customer ecosystems.

  • Sharing Design Thinking within organisations 
  • Developing a growth mindset
  • Team psychological safety and a speak-up culture
  • Design Thinking and organisational culture 
  • Designing in ecosystems 
  • Integrating Design Thinking with other ways of working

Module 10

Recommended: 6-8 hours per module

Becoming a Design Thinking leader
Discover how Design Thinking can lead the conversation and influence outcomes within business, and how you can become the driver of that change. Harness the power of targeted metrics to drive innovation and help future-proof your organisation.

  • Rise of the Chief Design Officer
  • Applying Design Thinking to real world problems
  • Design Thinking metrics 
  • How organisations are driving innovation 
  • The future of Design Thinking

Outcomes

Need more details about our Design Thinking courses?

Our course guides contain everything you need to know about our Design Thinking courses, including…

Work 1:1 with an industry expert

All Elevate students have access to an industry mentor as they progress through their course. Your mentor is an expert in the field and can provide insider tips and guidance on-demand.

Why study Design Thinking at Academy Xi?

Fees & payment options

We offer a range of flexible payment options so you can achieve your goals today, and pay at your own pace.

No deposit

Study Now, Pay Later

Choose weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayments over a repayment term of up to 6 months, with no deposit and 100% interest-free.

Weekly repayments from
$53.85/week

PAYMENTS

From $55 /week

No deposit

Study Now, Pay Later

Choose weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayments over a repayment term of up to 12 months, with no deposit and 100% interest-free

Weekly payments from

$68.92/week

PAYMENTS

From $55 /week

DISCOUNTED

Pay upfront

Pay for your course upfront to receive a discount on the full amount, and be eligible for any additional special offers.

Total cost of course

$2,520

TOTAL COST OF COURSE

$TBC $TBC

Student success stories

Our students come from different walks of life and have supercharged their careers, landing coveted jobs in the Design, Tech, and Marketing fields.

From HR to Entrepreneur

Julie Dal Santo

After working for years in Human Resources, Julie was looking for something new to study to reclaim her ‘professional mojo’. Little did Julie know at the time, but training in User Experience Design was going to lead to her leaving her profession and starting up her own successful enterprise.

Julie Dal Santo, abc

From Fine Art to Service Design

Cilla De Nadai

A firm believer in the benefits of lifelong learning, Cilla decided to add a new dimension to her design process by upskilling with Academy Xi. Reads about how she decided to deepen her problem-solving skills by connecting with the customer and enrolling in the Service Design: Elevate course.

Cilla De Nadai, Service Design Elevate

From Music Program Manager to Experience Designer

Simon Jankelson

From expanding the services of an Australian charity, to getting hired as a Human-Centred Designer, Simon’s decision to upskill in Design Thinking has enabled him to make bold changes in his career.

Simon Jankelson, Studied Design Thinking

Some frequently asked questions

Design thinking is about developing and applying design solutions that simplify a company’s problems and help projects move beyond their limitations. Instead of fixating on obstacles, a design thinker will prioritise tangible outcomes, using innovative design ideas and processes to create and implement strategic improvements.

Companies that excel with design innovation report nearly twice the stakeholder returns as industry peers, which means people who can think up and carry out design solutions are in high demand.

If you want to upskill, a Design Thinking course online can quickly get you to where you want to be. At Academy Xi, we offer intensive online programs that equip you with the full spectrum of theoretical and practical skills required in the workforce.

Don’t be fooled by the words – you don’t need to be a designer or involved in design-based industries to benefit from design thinking. It can be used to effectively problem-solve in a range of roles and projects.

We partner with Credly to deliver digital credentials for our graduates. Digital credentials are a graphical representation of your skills, combined with a description of the knowledge and activities it took to earn them.

Digital badges can be used in email signatures or digital resumes, and on social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

For more info, click here.

In this course you’ll experience flexible and self-paced learning, where students cover course content independently and browse material on our engaging learning platform. You’ll learn through a combination of:

  • readings
  • pre-recorded videos
  • 1:1 support sessions
  • hands-on activities and practical project work
  • Q&A via chat and discussion boards

We offer three online course formats across design, tech and business that deliver a range of practical outcomes:

  • Transform courses teach job-ready skills and help you launch a new career
  • Elevate courses expand your existing skill set and progress your career
  • Foundations courses teach introductory skills and build a knowledge base

Have questions? We’re here to listen.

…and any other concerns!

Download course guides

Get detailed information on what to expect from our online courses