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RITx: Design Thinking: Empathizing to Understand the Problem

Learn how to identify and understand product or business problems through active listening, empathy and user-focused research.

Design Thinking: Empathizing to Understand the Problem
6 weeks
8–12 hours per week
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
Free
Optional upgrade available

Choose your session:

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Starts Mar 28
Ends Jun 1
Starts Jul 8
Ends Nov 30

About this course

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When you immerse yourself in the context of the user, you can uncover pain points and find opportunities for improvement or innovation not always evident to your audience.

In this course, part of the Design Thinking MicroMasters program, you will learn how to use simple research methodologies including active listening to understand your target audience and uncover their obvious or latent needs.

Emphasis will be placed on observation and interviewing as key methods to gain empathy for the user's experience and viewpoint. Equipped with this understanding, you will be prepared to identify and define more accurately the business problem.

You will also review case studies and discuss strategies to foster productive client-stakeholder relationships, including user personification, context understanding, and empathy idea mapping (ideas that resonate with your target audience).

At a glance

  • Language: English
  • Video Transcripts: اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ, Deutsch, English, Español, Français, हिन्दी, Bahasa Indonesia, Português, Kiswahili, తెలుగు, Türkçe, 中文
  • Associated programs:
  • Associated skills:Active Listening, Research Methodologies, Design Thinking, Innovation, Target Audience, Stakeholder Communications, Empathy

What you'll learn

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  • Recognize the user’s emotive response to context and circumstance (i.e. products, environments, and services)
  • Understand a holistic approach to problem solving
  • Plan research activities to gather and analyze data from a user’s viewpoint
  • Demonstrate an appreciation for creative methods to document user needs and illustrate future solution possibilities

Who can take this course?

Unfortunately, learners residing in one or more of the following countries or regions will not be able to register for this course: Iran, Cuba and the Crimea region of Ukraine. While edX has sought licenses from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to offer our courses to learners in these countries and regions, the licenses we have received are not broad enough to allow us to offer this course in all locations. edX truly regrets that U.S. sanctions prevent us from offering all of our courses to everyone, no matter where they live.

This course is part of Design Thinking MicroMasters Program

Learn more 
Expert instruction
4 graduate-level courses
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
6 months
8 - 12 hours per week

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