Introduction to Human-Centered Prototyping

Prototype to move ideas forward with confidence
Preview Course

Prototyping is one of the most powerful skills for innovation. Whether you’re designing a digital product, a service, a business, or a physical experience, prototypes help you communicate your ideas and gather feedback. In this entry-level course, you’ll learn IDEO’s human-centered approach to prototyping so you can test ideas early, learn faster, and create work that truly works for people.

Course Outcomes
  • Shape ideas for digital and physical products and services using quick, low-fidelity prototyping.
  • Build something people will love by gathering feedback that will help you tap into real human needs and make your ideas even stronger.
  • Share a compelling vision for your product or service through prototypes to create alignment and earn support.
  • Save time and money and reduce risk by refining your concepts before moving to more high-fidelity prototypes.
Part of Certificate Programs
Skills You’ll Gain
Prototyping Human-Centered Problem Solving Confident Decision-Making Risk Reduction Through Experimentation Assumption Testing Communicating Ideas Through Prototypes
Format On-Demand
Start Date Start Anytime*
Quantity
Time 8-10 Hours
Price
Regular price
$250
Sale price
$250
Unit price
per 
Download Syllabus

*90-day access from date of purchase.

Go Deeper with Certificate Programs

Take your design thinking skills further with a certificate program:

What You'll Get

Introduction

Why building great products and services is really about understanding people.
Watch a sneak peek
  • Prototyping for Digital Experiences—A sneak peek of the class

Lesson 1: Designing Human-Centered Interactions

Learn how products, services, and technologies can connect with people in more meaningful ways.

Lesson 2: Build to Think

Prototype to push your thinking and generate ideas.

Lesson 3: Build to Learn

Test your assumptions to see which ideas are the most viable.

Conclusion: Build to Communicate

Learn to use prototypes to help tell the story of your product or service.

Meet Your Instructor

Chris Nyffeler

Former Design Director at IDEO

While at IDEO, Chris guided a community of visual, systems, and user experience designers, as well as software developers. He has pushed the craft of interaction design forward in the consumer web, mobile, e-commerce, digital health, and social media industries, and has earned multiple patents and awards. Chris holds a B.A. in Graphic Design and Art History from the University of Florida.

More About Chris

Deepen Your Learning

FAQs

We offer three types of courses: self-paced courses, cohort courses, and certificate programs. On-demand courses allow you to start, learn, and finish a course completely on your own schedule. Since courses are on-demand, there's no community experience of going through the material with other learners at the same time. There is no teaching team providing feedback on your submissions.

Cohort courses run on a set calendar with fixed start and end dates. You will be learning alongside other learners, but still have the flexibility to work at a pace that fits your own schedule—there aren't mandatory live components. In cohort courses, you'll have access to a teaching team who will answer your questions and give feedback on your assignments throughout the course. Self-paced courses allow you to start, learn, and finish a course completely on your own schedule. Since courses are on-demand, there's no community experience of going through the material with other learners. In on-demand courses, there is no teaching team providing feedback on your submissions.

Upon completing a course, the certificate and digital badge for the course will automatically become available to you on your profile page within 24 hours. There, you can view your certificate, download it, and access your Credly badge. We've partnered with Credly, a leading digital credentialing platform, to provide learners with a digital badge that they can share on social media, email signatures, or add to their LinkedIn profiles or resumes.

IDEO U courses are not currently eligible for university credit.

You'll need a stable internet connection and a device (computer, tablet, or phone) with a modern web browser such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge. Some course activities may work better on a computer than a mobile device. You'll also need to be able to view videos, which requires a browser that supports HTML5 video.

Once you enroll in a course, you can access it by logging into your IDEO U account at ideou.com and clicking on your profile icon in the upper right corner. Then click on "My Courses" to see all of your enrolled courses. Click on the course you want to access to go to the course page. Your courses are always available in your account, even after the course end date.

We offer refunds for on-demand courses if you haven't accessed the course content yet. If you've accessed the course content, we are unable to provide a refund. To process a refund, contact us.

Yes, we do! We offer group pricing when you purchase 5 or more seats for the same course. Contact us at learner-success@ideou.com to get a quote.

Loved by Learners Across the Globe

Hiromi Sakae
Hiromi Deputy General Manager Mitsui & Co., Ltd. Trading & Investment
Susan Svensson
Susan Senior Instructional Designer Genentech
Tom Miller
Tom Manager, Connected Learning K-12 School Programs, Cleveland Clinic
Atul Deshpande
Atul Principal Consultant Wipro
Introduction to Human-Centered Prototyping

“This course lowered the barrier to start making prototypes and to actually feel the power of how much prototypes can communicate.”

Hiromi Japan
Introduction to Human-Centered Prototyping

“The courses offer knowledge and skills applicable to multiple audiences. They enable you to enhance and build upon existing knowledge and skills, think more broadly and deeply about the 'customer/client' experience, think outside your own industry, and own the belief that everyone can be creative.”

Susan Oakland, CA
Introduction to Human-Centered Prototyping

“I loved the workbook and will refer back to it for years to come.”

Tom Beachwood, OH
Introduction to Human-Centered Prototyping

“The learnings from this course are very important from a product-building perspective.”

Atul Pune, Maharashtra, India

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