Find solutions to a range of problems using design thinking

How are the products we use every day created and designed? Human-centered design is being used by companies, startups, and governments all over the world to solve the problems by understanding the needs of people who face them.

On this two-week course, you’ll gain a practical insight into why this method of thinking is effective, how to use it, and which jobs benefit from the process.

You’ll take part in activities and become familiar with how to collect the right information and data to prove a solution can work in the real world.

Discover the importance of human-centred design

Human-centred design is a creative approach that focuses on understanding the needs of the people who have a problem, in order to design appropriate solutions.

This course will show you how putting people first in design delivers results, as well as how to develop your own design thinking mindset.

You’ll build skills in empathy, brainstorming, and making prototypes, and see how something as simple as asking the right questions can make your product stand out.

As well as identifying the kinds of problems that can be solved with human-centred design, you’ll experiment with the process through a series of simple activities to understand what is needed to make a successful design project.

Gain insights from industry experts

Learning from experts in the field, you’ll discover how to design great products for and with real people. You’ll also understand how to apply design thinking to real-world problems to see the process in action.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to summarise the activities needed to run a successful human-centred design project whilst developing your design thinking mindset.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 6 seconds Ryzard Akita: How are the products we use every day created and designed? Ever wondered what goes into making them? Human-centered design is being used by companies, startups, and governments all over the world to solve the problems we face through design. By using creative and innovative designs, this approach puts humans at the heart of the design process. Get Creative with People to Solve Problems demonstrates how putting people first in design gets results. This course is part of a program of three courses in the solving problems with technology strand from FutureLearn, the Institute of Coding, and the University of Leeds. Join experts in the field of design to discover how to design great products for and with real people.

Skip to 0 minutes and 53 seconds And how to develop your own design thinking mindset. Experiment with skills like empathy, brainstorming, and making prototypes. See how something as simple as asking the right questions can make your product stand out. This course is part of our suite of professional and digital skill courses from the University of Leeds and the Institute of Coding. Covering topics from coding to social media marketing. All available for free to help you build your career today. Whether you’re new to the line of work or forging a new career for yourself, we look forward to sharing your journey into the fast-moving digital space. Join us online.

What topics will you cover?

Gain a practical insight into human-centred design (an iterative design process in which designers focus on the users and their needs in each phase of the design process)
Explore the use of design thinking methods
Hear from others about how they use human-centred design
Experiment with design thinking through a series of simple activities

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

Identify the kinds of problem that can be solved with human-centred design
Summarise the activities needed to run a successful human-centred design project
Develop a human-centred design mindset to approach a problem
Apply the Design Thinking process to a real-world problem
Investigate how making and testing rough prototypes helps improvement
Collect information and data that help prove a solution will work in the real world

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for anyone interested in building on their skills and developing a design thinking mindset to tackle problems in the workplace.

You could be a graduate or working but looking to improve your career prospects with sought-after skills.

If you would like to deepen your understanding of this subject, you may be interested in these courses. They’re fro the same provider and share similar subjects and overall learning outcomes:

Who will you learn with?

Kim Plowright

I'm a creative digital producer and product manager, and helped establish the National Film and Television School’s first digital producing course. I have a secret double life as an artist.

Who developed the course?

University of Leeds

As one of the UK’s largest research-based universities, the University of Leeds is a member of the prestigious Russell Group and a centre of excellence for teaching.

Click Start

This course is part of Click Start, a nationwide training programme developed by the Institute of Coding (IoC) , a national collaboration of universities, employers and charities and funded by Nominet – the public benefit company and guardians of the .UK namespace.

Institute of Coding

The Institute of Coding (IoC) is a national collaboration of employers, universities, and charities, on a mission to provide people from all walks of life with access to digital learning and career opportunities.

Endorsers and supporters

funded by

supported by

What's included?

University of Leeds are offering everyone who joins this course a free digital upgrade, so that you can experience the full benefits of studying online for free. This means that you get:

Unlimited access to this course

Includes any articles, videos, peer reviews and quizzes

Tests to validate your learning

A PDF Certificate of Achievement to prove your success when you’re eligible

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn