Learn to think
like a designer
Design has many applications, and there are many tools that we can use to bring our designs to reality, but fundamentally, design is about thinking critically and analytically, and applying these practices methodically to solving a problem, i.e. Design Thinking!
At NWDI, we believe that everyone is a creative problem solver.
And we believe none of us are individually smarter than when we work together.

At the NorthWest Design Institute

Our design curriculum is not designed to teach you the technical tools of designing, but rather to help you flex your critical and analytical abilities, and develop a design-oriented way of approaching problem solving.

There are no prerequisites to take any of the courses, and while it is possible to take the classes individually, they have been designed to be taken in sequence, starting with Design Thinking 101 and culminating with Anticipatory Design & Prototyping the Future, in order to build upon the practices learned in each course.

See below to read briefly about each course.

Designing for Users

An introductory course to the research & strategy side of Design Thinking, this course focuses on the process and methodologies of how to conduct evaluative and observational research for the design and development of new products, services, and systems, with a focus on designing for others.

Design Thinking 101

If design is devising a course of action that consists of changing existing situations into preferred ones, then Design Thinking is an approach to problem seeking, and problem solving, that uses “designerly” perspectives and methods to speculate about the forms that these improvements might take.

The User as Designer

What is the “Fuzzy Front End”? How do we know what problems we are actually solving for? How can Users guide the development of innovative new solutions?

Anticipatory Design

If the future has yet to happen, it can then be designed… If it is to be designed, what is it to be designed into, and how will it be designed?