Design thinking methodology is an approach used by some of the most innovative companies in the world to create products that respond to real customer needs. As defined by Google, the core principles of design thinking are “the 3 Es”: empathy, or understanding your users’ needs, feelings, and motivations; expansive thinking, or brainstorming multiple and ambitious (or “10X”) problem solving approaches; and experimentation, or the process of building and testing prototypes of your product, and then iterating based on the results.

This approach is an important tool for quickly honing in on promising product ideas - and discarding less promising ones. Sometimes, creative concepts can get stuck in the boardroom or fall victim to slow-moving intra-organizational processes and never go anywhere. Other times, teams end up spending lots of time and effort developing a solid idea and creating a product that doesn’t meet customer needs and thus fails to find a market.

By incorporating design thinking into your business practices, you can avoid both of these pitfalls and come up with innovative products that meet the ever-changing needs and expectations of your customers.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur launching a startup, an “intrapreneur” seeking to spark innovation within an established company, or working at a non-profit or government organization trying to keep up with a fast-changing world, the ability to quickly ideate and implement creative solutions is increasingly essential to your success.

Familiarity with design thinking can thus be an invaluable tool to guide strategic thinking for managerial careers of all kinds. Product management professionals in particular need to be familiar with design thinking and user-centric design, as they are directly responsible for ensuring that the product development cycle is both time-efficient and generates successful business outcomes.

Design thinking principles are also closely related to Agile software development methodologies, which many tech companies require for software developers, software engineers, and related roles. Thus, this background can be especially important if you want to pursue a career with tech companies of all sizes, from lean startups to giants like Google or Apple.

Yes, Coursera offers courses and Specializations specifically geared towards design thinking and other skills you need to succeed in today’s innovation economy. Like online courses in other topics, you can attend virtual lectures, study course materials, and complete coursework on a flexible schedule, which is a particularly valuable benefit for entrepreneurs and other professionals hoping to acquire new skills while working at their current jobs - or on their startup.

And, because these courses are delivered by top-ranked institutions around the world, including the University of Virginia, HEC Paris, and the University of Sydney, you don’t have to sacrifice anything in the quality of your education to learn online.