Practitioner – Northwestern Mutual Design Thinking Academy
  • Type Certification
  • Level Advanced
  • Time Weeks

Practitioner – Northwestern Mutual Design Thinking Academy

Issued by Illinois Institute of Technology

Awarded to participants who successfully completed the Northwestern Mutual Design Thinking Academy Practitioner Training. This training was co-designed by and for Northwestern Mutual and delivered in partnership with the Institute of Design Academy. Completion of Practitioner training means individuals have demonstrated the ability to invite diversity, storytelling and problem framing, seeing the bigger picture, embracing curiosity and implementing Northwestern Mutual's Design Thinking practice.

  • Type Certification
  • Level Advanced
  • Time Weeks

Skills

Earning Criteria

  • Inviting diversity: Can be a contributing member of a multidisciplinary team throughout the innovation design process. Can help mentor and communicate core concepts to team members from across the organization not familiar with innovation and design.
  • Storytelling and framing: Can communicate, clearly and effectively, the core concepts and issues related to a design project to multiple stakeholder groups.
  • Seeing the bigger picture: Understands how their role and projects not only align with existing directions and strategies but can help shape intentional future directions for the organization.
  • Embracing curiosity: Can develop empathy for key stakeholder groups. Can also build contextual understanding and foresight of the situation and opportunity space. Seeks out and synthesizes different perspectives and opinions during projects and work.
  • Test and experiment: Can manage and resource an experiment/test. Can explain and govern the decision-making process (using the results of the experiments) with their team and colleagues.
  • Developing Insights: Can apply frameworks to new situations to create insight for design projects. Makes logically correct arguments.