Businesses Designed in Collaboration with IDEO
Go Deeper with Certificate Programs
Designing a Business is part of two certificate programs:
What You'll Learn
Week 1: Introduction
Watch: what does a business designer do?
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What Does a Business Designer Do?
Watch a sneak peek
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Designing a Business
3 Video Lessons
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Designing a Business—New ways to think
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The Business Blueprint—Visualizing the components of your business
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Prototyping Your Business—Answer big questions with small experiments
1 Assignment
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Identify Your Business—What’s the new business or business line that you want to work on? It could be something from your current role at your company, or an idea that you are hoping to start from scratch.
3 Discussions
- What's a business that you really love? What makes it so special?
- Got a favorite business framework that you like to use? Share with the group.
- What are some of the best prototypes you've seen, participated in, or heard about? What made them so special or memorable?
Project Challenge:
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To get the most out of this course, come prepared with a customer need and an idea for a new business, product, or service. It could be something from your current role or an idea you are hoping to start from scratch. You’ll develop this business idea as you move through the course.
Week 2: Creating Value
2 Video Lessons
- The Value Proposition—Designing the essence of your business
- What People Want—Prototyping an offer that stands out
2 Assignments
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Creating Value, Part 1—Build a prototype of your value proposition and test with your customers.
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Creating Value, Part 2—Build a prototype of your offer and test with your customers.
2 Discussions
- What's a company with a strong value proposition that you really love?
- Have you ever encountered a product or service from a company that varied wildly from their value proposition? How did it make you feel?
Week 3: Capturing Value
2 Video Lessons
- Capturing Value—What revenue model is right for your business?
- Building Revenue—Getting creative with revenue model and price
1 Assignment
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Capturing Value—Build a prototype of your revenue model and price and collect evidence to help you further refine how and how much your customers will pay.
2 Discussions
- What's one example of a product or service where price is being used to signal something about it's quality or availability? Is it working (are people buying it)?
- What deep functional or emotional needs do you think people pay the most for? What's an example of a business that understands this well?
Week 4: Delivering Value
2 Video Lessons
- Designing the Last Mile—Delivering value through the channel
- Getting to ‘Yes’—New ways to think about your channel
1 Assignment
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Delivering Value—Sketch a storyboard prototype that captures key moments around your channel, and collect evidence about which ideas most resonate with people.
2 Discussions
- Think back to a time when you took real pleasure in the experience of buying a product or service. What made the experience delightful?
- What do you think about when deciding whether or not to make a purchase? What tips you over the edge to 'yes?'
Week 5: Conclusion
1 Video Lesson
- Parting Thoughts—Stay generative, focus on people
1 Assignment
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Update the narrative of your business and your Business Blueprint
1 Discussion
- What's the one thing you'll take away from this course? Maybe it's a quote or piece of advice or framework. How will you use it to design your business? Or, how have you started to use it already?
Meet Your Instructors

David Schonthal
Senior Portfolio Director at IDEO
David helped develop the Startup-in-Residence program and co-founded MATTER, a healthcare technology incubator. He teaches innovation and entrepreneurship at Northwestern University and is a Venture Partner at Pritzker Group. He has an MBA from Northwestern and a B.A. from Boston University.

Kerry O'Connor
Design Director and Business Designer at IDEO
Kerry develops new and sustainable ways to monetize innovations. She co-founded Materna Medical, a medical device startup focused on maternal health, and lectures at the Stanford d.school. Kerry holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Boston University and an MBA from Stanford University.

Amy Bonsall
Former Senior Design Director of Venture Design, IDEO
Amy helped clients and design teams bring innovative new ventures to market. She is a mentor to startups in the tech and wellness worlds, and has advised at accelerators in Singapore and Brazil. Amy earned an MBA from IMD in Switzerland and holds a master's degree in electrical engineering.
Collaborate with a Global Community
Work with Expert Coaches
Our teaching team has extensive applied industry knowledge. They'll help deepen your understanding and application of the course content by facilitating written discussions, live video moments, and assignment feedback.
Expand Your Network
Join virtual live discussion groups for deeper conversation, reflection, and connection led by teaching team members and available multiple times a week across time zones.
Receive Feedback
Gain tips, techniques, and a downloadable feedback guide; and share and receive feedback on assignments from peers.



Loved by Learners Across the Globe
Designing a Business
Cohort CourseI found the IDEO U Designing a Business course to be very relevant and useful during the launch phase of my business and will continue to use the insights gained during the course as I develop and iterate the business moving forward. I have already recommended the course to one of my clients who has enrolled and will continue to recommend it.
Designing a Business
Cohort Course“Simple and elegant course, but powerful impact. Just being introduced to the business blueprint was an aha, and knowing that each piece is always a working prototype. More specifically, I had no idea that channels can be made into so much more (e.g. transforming the customer experience) than just something static.”
Designing a Business
Cohort Course“The course is carefully designed to make the learning experience easy to understand and practical. Also the community conversations are a valuable way of sharing knowledge, getting feedback, and networking.”
Designing a Business
Cohort Course“The videos were informative, short, factual, and applicable to real-world examples. All the material was memorable by using case study examples. The structure of the Assignments Workbook was a great process to follow and learn; you work through sections of the blueprint, make adjustments after each lesson, and then tie it all together in the end to make a refined business plan.”
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Enroll As a Team
The practice and application of design thinking, innovation, and creativity is highly collaborative and team based—which is why we believe that learning is better together. Take a course as a team and develop new skills and mindsets, have deeper discussion during course kickoff and debrief sessions, and build a shared understanding.