

From Ideas to Action
From Ideas to Action
Go Deeper with Certificate Programs
From Ideas to Action is part of two certificate programs:
What You'll Learn
Week 1: Introduction
Watch a sneak peek
-
From Ideas to Action – IDEO Prototyping Example
2 Video Lessons
-
From Ideas to Action—Ideate, Prototype, and Iterate Your Way Forward
-
Meet Your Instructor—Brendan Boyle
1 Assignment
-
Choose Your Challenge: We’ve crafted a series of project challenges for you to choose from, all designed to be the right size and scope for this course. You'll practice your selected challenge during the course and later you can bring your learning into your own work.
1 Discussion
-
What do you want to take away from this course?
Week 2: The Art of Ideating
5 Video Lessons
- What is Ideation?—Getting comfortable with divergent thinking
- Ideation Methods—Ways to generate ideas
- Brainstorm Rules—Leading your own brainstorm
- Observe Experts Brainstorming—See an IDEO team in action
- Converging After Idea Generation—How to make choices and move forward
1 Assignment
-
Ideate: Plan an ideation session, ideate with two to four people, and choose your top ideas. To get the most out of this assignment, we suggest that you involve others. That means you might not complete this in one sitting.
3 Discussions
-
Keep a playful mindset and share your thirty circles activity.
-
What were some key takeaways from leading a brainstorm? Get visual if you can.
-
Reflect on your ideation session. What were some of the challenges you faced? What strategies did you use to overcome these challenges?
Week 3: Rapid Prototyping
5 Video Lessons
- Why Prototype—Make your ideas tangible and shareable
- Types of Prototypes—Anything can be prototyped
- Show Me Your Prototype—Predict what became of early prototypes
- 3 Steps for Prototyping—Build, share, and reflect
- Tinfoil Hats in Action—IDEOers tackle the challenge
1 Assignment
-
Prototype: Plan, build, and share your prototype. To get the most out of this assignment, we suggest that you involve two to four people. That means you might not complete this in one sitting.
3 Discussions
-
When was a time you failed at something? Allow yourself to be vulnerable—what did you learn from your mistake?
-
Share your tinfoil hat prototype and comment on your fellow learner’s prototypes with ideas to build on their designs.
-
What about prototyping felt uncomfortable? Which aspects of your prototype were people drawn to?
Week 4: Iterate Your Way Forward
3 Video Lessons
- Why We Iterate—Fail early to succeed sooner
- 4 Steps to Iterate—Managing risk and refining your ideas
- School Lunch Activity—A closer look at school lunch and iteration
1 Assignment
-
Iterate: This assignment will get you thinking critically about what you've done so far and what you still need to do. You will list questions that will help you iterate, prioritize those questions, ideate again (and again), and plan for the future.
1 Discussion
-
How has your plan for future prototyping shifted in surprising ways? What helped you get there?
Week 5: Conclusion
1 Video Lesson
- Course Conclusion—Play, build and experiment
1 Assignment
-
Final Project: Create a pitch summarizing your key takeaways and highlighting your plans for the future.
2 Discussions
-
What does creative confidence mean to you, and how might the skills and perspective from this course get you that much closer to bringing your ideas to life?
-
What was your creative confidence before and after the course? Really think about how or why it changed. Did your creative confidence change during the course? How and why? What was the most revealing moment for you?
Meet Your Instructors

Brendan Boyle
Partner at IDEO & Founder of IDEO Play Lab
Brendan has led design teams to invent and license hundreds of consumer products. He consults with companies about including space for play and innovation, wrote a course for Stanford’s d.School, and co-authored The Klutz Book of Inventions. He holds degrees in design and mechanical 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
From Ideas to Action
Cohort Course“In running my own business, I've become selective about what courses I choose. IDEO U has kinda blown me away. It's accessible and tangible, but also challenging. It's pushed me to do my future work differently, but also to *think about myself* in my work differently.”
From Ideas to Action
Cohort Course“IDEO U courses are very effective in teaching design thinking in a way that is digestible and practical. Learning to apply these methods to a real-world challenge really provides a sense of completion, and makes it easier for me to speak to what I've learned.”
From Ideas to Action
Cohort Course“The art of coming up with new ideas and being able to effectively communicate those ideas is incredibly important in my field. As a new product manager, I really struggled to find resources to help me learn effectively, and I was able to put what I learned here into practice right away.”
From Ideas to Action
Cohort Course“These are key skills and concepts that are important to every industry, job function and team structure. Being able to think outside the box, incorporate feedback and apply it in a meaningful way to solve a challenge is such a wonderful skill to have and build off of.”
Learners Also Purchased
-
Hello Design Thinking
An introduction to the foundational concepts and tools of design thinkingSelf-Paced Course start anytime- Regular price
- $199
- Sale price
- $199
- Unit price
- per
-
Insights for Innovation
Learn to use insights to turn customer needs into human-centered solutionsCohort Course 5 Weeks- Regular price
- $799
- Sale price
- $799
- Unit price
- per
-
Storytelling for Influence
Craft a narrative to motivate and inspireCohort Course 5 Weeks- Regular price
- $799
- Sale price
- $799
- Unit price
- per

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.