There are two distinct ways to learn at IDEO U—cohort courses and self-paced. Each has a different structure and schedule:　

Cohort courses

Cohort courses run on a set calendar, with fixed start and end dates. Course learning is self-paced within those dates and requires approximately 4-5 hours per week over 5 weeks. Courses consist of videos, activities, assignments, access to course teaching team, and feedback from a global community of learners.

Cohort courses also provide optional 1-hour video Community Conversations, held weekly by the teaching team. They occur during set times, which are released during the first week of the course, and are set to accommodate as many time zones as possible.

Self-paced courses

Self-paced courses take between 2-10 hours to complete. We provide 90 days of access from the date of purchase, so you may spread your learning over multiple weeks, or refer back to it multiple times during your access period. Courses consist of a series of videos, activities, and small assignments. 

All of our courses are fully online and self-paced, so you can take them from any time zone, anywhere in the world.

During 5-week cohort courses, your course teaching team will host scheduled virtual community conversations which are optional. Timing will be announced during the first week of the course and is set to accommodate as many time zones as possible. These conversations are optional, so don’t worry if you can’t make them. 

The best place for most people to start at IDEO U is our Foundations in Design Thinking Certificate program. This program includes 2 cohort courses that will enable you to gain a foundational and practical understanding of essential design thinking skills and empower you to create innovative, human-centered solutions.

That said, choosing the right course really comes down to your learning goals. It can be helpful to think about which course topics align with the problems you’re trying to solve. You can find more details on our different course topics here.

While you can enroll in multiple courses concurrently, we strongly advise that you do so only if you are able to commit to a minimum of 5 hrs/week for each course (i.e. 10 hrs/week for 2 courses) to ensure the most valuable learning experience. If that does not feel feasible, we recommend taking the courses separately and exploring future dates on our course calendar.

We currently do not offer private or customized courses. We do provide additional resources that can help teams be successful while taking a course together:  

1. Team Learning Guide: A best practice guide for facilitating offline discussions to complement the in-course experience.

2. Manage Learners function: A portal where you can track your team's course progress.

3. Private Learning Circle: A closed space for discussion on the learning platform specifically for your team.

IDEO U does not offer workshops. Our preferred partner is Experience Point who offers half-day to 2-day facilitated innovation workshops. If you’re interested, please reach out to hello@ideou.com and and we'd be happy to connect you to the right person at Experience Point.

Yes. Purchasing a seat for your team member is a quick and simple process. When you’re on the check-out page, click the box beside the course that says “Purchasing for someone else”. Once you complete the purchase, you’ll be able to enroll the learner by clicking on the “enroll learner” button in the confirmation email. Visit our FAQ page for the step-by-step process.

You can purchase a course on our website using a credit card, PayPal, or Shop Pay.  We also offer installment plans which you can select at checkout if you use the Shop Pay method of payment.

We typically are not able to accommodate bank transfer or invoicing, however, if your order includes 25 seats or more, please contact hello@ideou.com and our team will be happy to review your request. 

We offer a discount when you enroll in multiple courses at the same time through some of our certificate programs, including Foundations in Design Thinking, Business Innovation, Human-Centered Strategy, and Communicating for Impact.