Design Thinking 101
Design Thinking 101 is a course introducing learners to the fundamentals of design thinking. This course guides users through each stage of the design thinking process—empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test—equipping them with practical tools to tackle complex challenges and spark innovation in professional environments.
Audience: College Students
Responsibilities: Instructional design, eLearning Developer
Tools Used: LMS Canvas, HTML, Canva and Articulate Storyline
Instructional Design Principles
This course was grounded in evidence-based instructional design principles to promote learner engagement, knowledge retention, and equitable access. I applied a mix of cognitive, sociocultural, and design thinking strategies to ensure relevance and inclusivity.
Ensuring that all learners can engage with the course materials was a central design goal. The following accessibility principles were integrated throughout:
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WCAG 2.1 Compliance: Text contrast, font legibility, and navigational clarity were maintained across all modules.
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Closed Captions: Video and audio content included accurate captions and downloadable transcripts.
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Consistent Structure: Used a predictable and clean module layout to reduce cognitive load and support neurodivergent learners.
Accessibility Principles
Multimedia Principles
To enhance learning through multimedia, I applied Mayer’s Multimedia Principles, which are grounded in cognitive science:
Divided content into short, digestible chunks
Segmenting was intentionally applied throughout the Canvas course to support learner comprehension of complex processes, particularly the Design Thinking framework. This principle involves dividing information into manageable, meaningful parts, allowing learners to absorb and process each piece before moving forward.
The temporal contiguity principle was used to strengthen comprehension
This design choice helped learners form clear mental connections between concepts and their visual representations; especially important in a process-based topic like design thinking. During each phase (e.g., Empathize, Ideate), videos included synchronized narration with onscreen actions, so learners could hear and see what was happening at the same time.
Removed extraneous text/images to keep content focused
In the Design Thinking 101 course, this principle was essential to maintaining a clean and focused learning environment—especially given the abstract nature of the design thinking process.
Used icons, bolding, and color to highlight key information
Bolding was strategically used as a primary visual cue to guide learners' attention to essential terms, actions, and decision points. This subtle yet powerful application of the signaling principle helped reduce cognitive load and reinforced critical content without overwhelming the learner with additional visuals or text.
