Design Thinking — Developing the Solution Concept

Program Experience

Highlights and Key Outcomes

This course teaches a systematic, customer-centered methodology for creating breakthrough solutions. By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Apply the triple-diamond model to move from defining the job to be done, through customer insights, to compelling solution concepts
• Define focal customers and jobs to be done using personas, abstraction ladders, and “How might we…” framing
• Conduct customer research that uncovers authentic, non-obvious, and significant insights to guide innovation
• Generate and refine solution concepts using systematic ideation methods, hybrid individual-group approaches, and AI-enhanced creativity
• Evaluate and test concepts systematically with structured selection matrices and customer feedback to predict market acceptance
• Integrate design thinking into organizational processes to lead repeatable, user-centered innovation projects that deliver business impact

Experience and Impact

Delivered online, self-paced, and on-demand, the course features four in-depth modules (four to six hours each). You’ll progress through video lectures and required hands-on activities that culminate in a digital completion badge. By practicing research, ideation, and evaluation in real-world contexts, you’ll leave not only with a process but also with the confidence to lead innovation efforts with impact.

Certificate Pathway

This is the third course in the three-course Innovation Strategy and Design Thinking Certificate. This certificate is earned by completing all three courses in the series:

• Introduction to Innovation: Everyone Is an Innovator
• Innovation Tournaments and the Process View
• Design Thinking: Developing the Solution Concept

Each course may be taken individually, but together they form a comprehensive progression — from building foundational literacy in innovation, to mastering the mechanics of scaling ideas, to applying design thinking to create tested solution concepts.

Completing all three courses not only equips you with Wharton’s most powerful innovation tools, but it also earns you the Innovation Strategy and Design Thinking Certificate — a credential that recognizes your ability to apply rigorous, practice-based methods to lead innovation across products, services, and organizational processes.

Tuition

The tuition for this course is $1,350. You can also enroll in the full three-course Innovation Strategy and Design Thinking Certificate for $3,850 — which brings the per-course cost down to $1,283. Choosing the certificate not only saves you money but also gives you access to the complete innovation system and the recognized Wharton credential.