Creative Problem Solving in Organizations with Design Thinking & AI
Master the design thinking process while using AI-powered tools to ideate, prototype, and innovate faster and more creatively.
Next available course: Summer 2026
Classes Start 06/01/2026
Registration Open Until 06/07/2026
Course Overview
Unlock your capacity for breakthrough solutions using human-centered design thinking enhanced by AI-powered tools. In this immersive four-week course, you’ll learn how to use the design thinking process—empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test—to tackle real organizational challenges while leveraging AI as a creative collaborator, not a replacement for human insight.
Through hands-on team projects, you’ll explore how innovative organizations like IDEO build creative cultures; practice empathy mapping, persona development, and customer journey mapping; and use AI tools to generate ideas, explore alternatives, and visualize early prototypes. You'll experiment with rapid prototyping, give and receive feedback, and refine your solutions using both human judgment and AI-assisted iteration.
The course culminates in a storytelling-focused capstone where you present your design thinking journey and final solution, reflecting on how human creativity and AI worked together in your process. You’ll leave with practical tools, a structured approach to creative problem solving, and greater confidence using AI ethically and effectively in your professional work.
Course Format
4 week instructor-led week-to-week cadence course, with assignments, discussion boards, and learning assessments (quizzes) opening on Monday and to be completed by the end of the week. This gives students flexibility to review materials at their leisure. Additionally, recorded lectures and video recordings are available to enhance learning objectives.
Price
$625Course Details
Units 2.0 CEUs / 20 PDUs
Location Online Courses
Course Type Group-Paced
Next Available Course
Term Summer 2026
Classes Start 06/01/2026
Registration Open Until 06/07/2026
Register NowWhat You’ll Learn
After successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
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Explain the design thinking process and its stages (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test), including how AI tools can appropriately support each stage.
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Analyze organizational creativity and team dynamics, using examples such as IDEO to understand how innovative teams collaborate, maintain psychological safety, and integrate AI as a brainstorming and analysis partner.
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Use empathy maps, personas, and customer journey maps—supported by both qualitative insights and AI-generated perspectives—to identify customer needs, pain points, and opportunities.
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Demonstrate AI literacy in a design-thinking context by crafting effective prompts, using AI to expand ideas or viewpoints, and critically evaluating AI-generated content for bias, quality, and relevance.
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Apply structured ideation techniques, combining human brainstorming with AI-assisted idea generation to produce, cluster, and select creative solutions to real organizational problems.
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Develop and refine low-fidelity prototypes (such as sketches, storyboards, wireframes, or mockups), using AI when appropriate to visualize concepts, draft copy, or simulate scenarios.
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Give and receive constructive feedback on ideas and prototypes, and iteratively improve solutions using both peer input and AI-supported exploration.
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Design and deliver a compelling narrative that communicates the problem, process, and solution, optionally using AI for drafting or visual support while maintaining a clear, authentic human voice.
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Reflect critically on personal and team performance, including how AI was used during the project, what value it added, where it fell short, and how human creativity ultimately shaped the outcome.
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Apply the combined tools of design thinking and AI to foster a culture of innovation and creative problem-solving within their own teams and organizations.
Your Instructor
Associate Professor
Dr. Violetta Gerasymenko is an Associate Professor and Program Director of Entrepreneurship and Strategy at the College of Business at Oregon State University. An Innovation Advocate, she currently serves on the Leadership Committee of the Design for Social Impact program at OSU, a multi-disciplinary collaborative program between the Honors College, College of Engineering, College of Liberal Arts, and the College of Business. After completing her Ph.D. from HEC Paris, Dr. Gerasymenko held an Assistant Professor position at Nova SBE in Portugal and visiting scholar positions at MIT Sloan, New York University, and the National University of Singapore. Her research explores the multifaceted roles played by entrepreneurial ecosystem stakeholders such as business accelerators, crowdfunding platforms, and venture capitalists in affecting entrepreneurs. By relying on cognitive and learning theories, she seeks to uncover how and when these actors contribute to the success of entrepreneurial ventures across different sectors, from biotech to creative industries. Among her recent research interests, she explores the intersection of new technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence (AI), and student learning outcomes, particularly in fostering creative thinking, social impact, and entrepreneurial orientation. Dr. Gerasymenko’s research has been published in top journals, including the Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, and other international peer-reviewed journals and book chapters in English and French. She serves on the Editorial Review Boards of the Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. She teaches entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation-related courses at OSU to undergraduate and graduate students in person and via Ecampus. Before joining academia, Dr. Gerasymenko was involved in several startup businesses and worked in one of the major venture capital firms in Paris, France. She is regularly invited to be part of startup competition juries and is a passionate coach of entrepreneurial ventures.