Leadership Through Design Innovation MOOC
There's nothing like taking on a new job, and as the newest faculty members, being asked to create the highest-profile project in the design school's history. But that's what happened! In our capacity as designers-in-residence at Northwestern University's Segal Design Institute, Brandon Williams and I were asked to lead the development of our first massive open online course (MOOC), called Leadership through Design Innovation. Our course was part of a larger specialization in leadership, created in partnership with the Kellogg School of Management.
The four-week course through Coursera offers a glimpse into the mindsets, methods and tools that make up the design innovation process, and how to integrate these elements to be a more effective leader. Over 6,000 learners from 131 countries have learned 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).
Despite the initial intimidation of crafting such a visible offering from an institution where we were graduate students the prior year, it's an honor to get to share a subject we love with people all over the world, and hear how it's impacting them.
“Fantastic course. I've been using the rapid prototyping principles at work and it has had immediate payoffs.”
Design begins with finding opportunities. Here is Pam's Week One lecture on how to get started in design as part of the MOOC.
MOOC in progress! Pairing visuals with the script.
While not a talking head in the MOOC, Brandon's hands make a cameo appearance during the Idea Generation and Rapid Visualization portion of the course.