Design

IDEO: Human-Centered Design Workshop

This two-day workshop gets participants doing Human-Centered Design, the IDEO way. You'll learn to deeply understand users and create solutions that meet real needs. We'll focus on empathy, user research, and turning insights into design opportunities. Human-Centered Design starts with people. Before solutions, understand your target: needs, experience, and perspective. This isn't assumption-based design; it's evidence-driven innovation.

Duration
16 days
Group Size
6-12
Category
Design
Format
In-person
Conduct user interviews and gather real-world data.
Create empathy maps to visualize user feelings and thoughts.
Develop journey maps to identify pain points and opportunities.
Build user personas based on research data.
Define clear problem statements from a user perspective.
Generate initial solution concepts grounded in user insights.
After this workshop, expect:

Usable research documentation.
Clear empathy maps.
Actionable journey maps.
Insightful user personas.
Compelling problem definitions.
Early, user-validated solution concepts.

Longer term, expect:

Practical user research skills.
Shared team understanding of users.
Research-backed decision-making.
Confidence in advocating for user needs.
Established user research practices.
Improved user satisfaction and product-market fit.

Day 1

8:30am-9:00am
BREAK 30 min
Breakfast & Registration

Light breakfast and participant check-in

9:00am-9:15am
BREAK 15 min
Welcome & Introductions

Facilitator introduction and agenda overview

9:15am-9:30am
Hyper Island 15 min
Check-in/Check-out

Start and end sessions mindfully with brief personal sharing. Check-ins help people arrive mentally and emotionally; che...

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9:30am-10:30am
IDEO 60 min
IDEO - Frame Your Design Challenge

Part of LUMA collection. --- Properly framing your design challenge is critical to your success. Here's how to do it j...

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10:30am-10:45am
BREAK 15 min
Morning Coffee Break

Refreshments and networking

10:45am-12:00pm
IDEO 75 min
IDEO - Interview Planning & Practice

Part of LUMA collection. --- An Interview is a guided conversation where you learn about the hopes, desires, and aspir...

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12:00pm-1:00pm
BREAK 60 min
Lunch

Lunch break

1:00pm-1:40pm
Research 40 min
Empathy Interviews

Deep understanding of user needs through one-on-one conversations. Focus on stories not opinions, ask "why" to go deeper...

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1:40pm-2:40pm
IDEO 60 min
IDEO-Journey Map Creation

Part of LUMA collection. --- A Journey Map allows you to identify and strategize for key moments in the product, exper...

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2:40pm-2:55pm
BREAK 15 min
Afternoon Coffee Break

Refreshments

2:55pm-4:00pm
IDEO 65 min
IDEO - How Might We?

Part of LUMA collection. --- Every problem is an opportunity for design. By framing your challenge as a How Might We q...

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4:00pm-4:45pm
IDEO 45 min
IDEO - Brainstorm

Part of LUMA collection. --- At IDEO.org, we use Brainstorms to tap into a broad body of knowledge and creativity. The...

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4:45pm-5:00pm
BREAK 15 min
Day 1 Wrap-up

Recap and preview of Day 2

Day 2

8:30am-9:00am
BREAK 30 min
Breakfast

Light breakfast

9:00am-9:10am
BREAK 10 min
Day 2 Kickoff

Recap and day overview

9:10am-10:40am
IDEO 90 min
IDEO - Bundle Ideas & Create A Concept

Part of LUMA collection. --- Bundling Ideas takes you from strong individual concepts to solutions of substance. Think...

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10:40am-10:55am
BREAK 15 min
Morning Coffee Break

Refreshments

10:55am-12:00pm
IDEO 65 min
IDEO - Rapid Prototyping

Part of LUMA collection. --- Prototyping is an incredibly effective way to make ideas tangible, to learn through makin...

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12:00pm-1:00pm
BREAK 60 min
Lunch

Lunch break

1:00pm-2:30pm
IDEO 90 min
IDEO - Get Feedback

Part of LUMA collection. --- Soliciting feedback on your ideas and prototypes is a core element of the Ideation Phase,...

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2:30pm-2:45pm
BREAK 15 min
Afternoon Coffee Break

Refreshments

2:45pm-3:45pm
IDEO 60 min
IDEO - Integrate Feedback And Iterate

Part of LUMA collection. --- Integrating the feedback you hear from the people you're designing for is one of the esse...

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3:45pm-4:30pm
IDEO 45 min
IDEO - Create A Pitch

Part of LUMA collection. --- Now that your idea is pretty well set, you'll want to communicate it to funders, partners...

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4:30pm-5:00pm
BREAK 30 min
Workshop Wrap-up

Final presentations and closing

Unlock Full Agenda & Timing

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For Facilitators

  • Review participant profiles and expectations
  • Prepare all materials and supplies
  • Test technology and room setup

For Participants

  • Complete pre-session survey
  • Review background materials
  • Prepare examples or case studies

Unlock Pre-Work Requirements

Create a free account to access step-by-step instructions, agendas, and resources for all activities.

Interview guide templates
Audio recorders or smartphones
Notebooks and pens
Consent forms
Camera for documentation
Large wall space or whiteboards
Sticky notes (various colors)
Markers
Flip chart paper
Empathy map templates
Journey map templates
Persona templates
Dot stickers
Timer
Laptops (optional)
Video conferencing (optional)
Digital whiteboarding tools (Miro, Mural - optional)
Survey tools (optional)

Unlock Materials Required

Create a free account to access step-by-step instructions, agendas, and resources for all activities.

  • Facilitator Guide (PDF)
  • Participant Workbook Template
  • Presentation Slides
  • Printable Materials

Unlock Resources & Templates

Create a free account to access step-by-step instructions, agendas, and resources for all activities.

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