This course is designed for people who use research to guide decisions but want stronger, more actionable outcomes from their work. That includes design researchers, UX designers, product managers, market researchers, innovation leaders, strategists, and customer experience professionals.

It’s valuable for people who find themselves responsible for research—even if it’s not their primary role—and want a clearer process for exploring data and building confidence in their recommendations.

No prior AI experience is required. This course focuses on the mindsets and approaches that help you use AI effectively in research, not on mastering specific tools or platforms. You’ll see examples of AI tools that can support your work, but the focus of the course is on a repeatable research workflow and how to think about AI as an exploration and analysis partner. The approaches you learn can be applied across many different AI tools, so you can adapt them to whatever platforms are available to you now and in the future.

The course will help you work with interviews, transcripts, field notes, and other forms of unstructured data, while also strengthening how you interpret and act on insights from surveys, market data, and other quantitative sources. These approaches can be applied across product development, service design, market research, innovation initiatives, customer experience research, and strategic decision-making.

No. This course focuses on strengthening human-centered research, not replacing it. AI can help you explore qualitative data more deeply, work with larger volumes of research, and test ideas more quickly. But interpretation, judgment, and insight remain human-led. The course shows how to thoughtfully integrate AI into your research workflow so it expands what your research can do, while keeping human understanding at the center.

Many AI courses focus on tools or prompt engineering. This course focuses on how AI can support the craft of research. You’ll learn how to integrate AI into a human-centered research process, using it to explore data, test ideas, and strengthen the conclusions that guide decisions.

The course combines short lessons with practical exercises designed to help you apply the concepts to real research situations. Many learners choose to apply the exercises to their own research projects, though example scenarios are also provided. You’ll have opportunities to interact with other participants, share perspectives, and learn from teaching assistants with relevant field experience. The goal is to help you actively experiment with new approaches—not just watch videos—so you can bring these practices directly into your work.

Human-centered research is a qualitative research approach used in design and innovation to understand people’s needs, behaviors, motivations, and experiences. It typically uses methods such as interviews, observation, and analysis of real-world interactions to identify patterns and insights about how people think and act. The goal is to translate these insights into better decisions, products, services, or strategies that address real human needs.

Participants typically complete the course over several weeks. Lessons combine short videos, practical exercises, and examples you can apply to your own research projects. Most learners spend around four hours per week engaging with the material and exercises. IDEO U suggests pacing to spread out the course work over a 5-week period, but you can also choose to go at your own pace.

Yes. Participants who complete the course requirements will receive a certificate from IDEO U that is shareable through LinkedIn.

Recordings will be available so you can review the material later.