cooper u

Course Descriptions

Design Leadership

Design Leadership students working together.

Create a shared design vision through communication and leadership

Ever had an innovative and beautiful idea that never saw the light of day? Feel like your organization believes in the value of design, but prioritizes deadlines over fully developed ideas? These are symptoms of unhealthy communication and collaboration. If you feel frustrated, alone, or powerless, we can introduce you to principles and practices that will give you more influence over the outcomes of your interactions with others.

In this intensive, two-day course you will learn from Cooper experts who’ve been coaching companies to deliver better products and services for 20 years. Learn how to diagnose the unique challenges your team or organization is facing and get to the root of the communication roadblocks. Get hands-on experience with communications tools like storytelling to promote big ideas and get buy-in. Use collaborative techniques that help you create an environment that invites participation. Afterwards, you’ll have the ability to guide the creation of products and services that are financially viable, technically feasible, and that your customers love. Most of all you’ll have the skills to become a leader in your organization.

Upcoming Design Leadership Courses

  • Jul 24-25, 2013
  • Nov 14-15, 2013

Who should attend

Designers who want to create buy-in and build credibility within their organizations. Product managers, developers, marketers, and technology experts. Anyone who is committed to a great user experience and wants to develop their leadership skills and to communicate more effectively.

Course topics

  • Communicating Design
    • Communicate effectively with business stakeholders
    • Explain design solutions at different stages of the process
    • Sell your big ideas, connect the value of the design to the business goals and technical requirements
  • Storytelling
    • Sell the product vision with great storytelling
    • Make sense of data, synthesize research, and convey concepts to others
  • Collaboration
    • Guide healthier collaboration on an individual basis and on a group level
    • Balance brainstorming sessions with generative and evaluative thinking
    • Understand the needs and goals of each team member and discover the best way to work together
    • Manage expectations and projects more effectively
  • Leadership and Culture
    • Design workshops and communication tools that facilitate a shared product vision
    • Recognize when a meeting or culture is ineffective and the steps necessary to change the situations
    • Facilitate the decision-making process
    • Take ownership for how design is expressed and received

This course assumes that participants have a grasp on the following concepts:

  • Design research
  • Personas
  • Context scenarios
  • Requirements definition using scenarios
  • Interaction frameworks

What people are saying

“A great course with a lot of useful, real-world tools and techniques!”

“The instructor put us at ease; a welcoming, relaxed, yet energetic atmosphere.”

“Our program managers should take this course to get a better understanding of the issues design teams have and how to prevent and resolve these issues.”

“This class gave me insight on how to better convey ideas; involve colleagues along the way; and generally work more as a team.”

“Great material on a really complex topic.”

“[The instructor] drew on real experience, shared failures, as well as successes. She's great at pulling out the insights from exercises.”

“I highly recommend this class. Learn about planning workshops; structuring design reviews.”

Custom Course

If you have a large group to train or you want a course focused on specific needs, consider treating your whole team to a custom Cooper U course.

2013 Cooper U Schedule