Design Thinking: From

Insights to Viability
Learner Testimonials
 'Learning and challenging yourself is an ongoing way of life. If you are not
struggling every once in a while, you are getting stagnant (and maybe a bit stale
too some time)! – With this rule as a guiding line for myself, a few months back I
took upon this journey of studying again and signed up for - Design Thinking: From
Insights to Viability course offered by Stanford GSB Executive Education and
delivered in collaboration with Great Learning.

The program has been challenging, exciting & stimulating for the brain and at the
same time made me push my limits. But the whole journey has been immensely
enriching – thanks to the ever inspiring Prof. Stefanos Zenios who’s impactful
sessions left us energised and motivated us to keep challenging ourselves further,
to the constant support and guidance from my course facilitator Rameet Arora and
the awesome peers from various backgrounds and countries for bringing in their
insightful perspectives & without whom this would have been doubly difficult.

Thanks to the Great Learning team for organising the cohort so well and nudging
Parul Katyal us towards the finish line. Also, for bringing this opportunity for professionals like
me, who want to up-skill and keep learning but cannot change their base/ country
Cohort 7
Partner, Importing and find it difficult to leave their existing jobs/ or take a sabbatical.'
India
‘It’s been quite some time since I had an opportunity for
professional development as rigorous and rich as the Stanford
Design Thinking course offered through Great Learning. For
the same cost as a weekend professional conference, we
went deep on the design thinking process with peers,
facilitators, and Stanford faculty, creating our own prototypes
and receiving direct feedback on our work. It was demanding
and invigorating and the most fun I’ve had with professional
development in some time.’

Marcus Goodyear
Cohort 7
Sr. Director of Communications for the H E
Butt Foundation
USA
 'For a really busy working senior executive, I was very apprehensive about my
time commitments to get into this course and get it done on time. Must say that,
the course curriculum, spacing between modules, assignment schedules, CF as a
coach and guide and the team work for brainstorming, etc not only made the
course enjoyable but also helped immensely to get immersed, learn, experiment,
share and feel good about it.

The course material including handouts, reference materials, videos and guides
were immensely helpful as well. Professor Stefanos and my CF (Megan) were the
best thing that happened in the madness to not only understand the concepts but
how one applies it to problem solving.

Finally, starting from registration to orientation to various group conversations and

Soumendra Mohanty must also acknowledge the continuous support including reminders from Great
Learning folks so that I was kept on my toes all the time.
Cohort 7
CSO & CIO, Data Science and AI Lastly, I would encourage all to take this course. Design thinking opens up our
India mind in many ways that we are today not aware of and we go through the daily
grinds in a mechanical manner.'
‘I am feeling very excited and thankful while writing this testimonial. Today I
feel so valuable and confident in my life after successfully completing
Design Thinking from Stanford Graduate School of Business with excellent
program support from the team Great Learning.

I must say that your Great Learning team has managed this program so
efficiently that a huge cohort that was present at multiple geo locations
never felt this difference. Though it was an online executive program, we
are benefitted more than 100% because of world-class Instruction design
and program management.

I feel some part of mine is now made from Stanford University. This course
has added new value to my career and thinking process.
I hope to transfer this value to society in the form of consultancy support
and training.
I wish great success to your excellent team.’
Priy Dwivedi, PhD
Cohort 7
Assistant Professor, Education
Muscat
 'Going through the DT Stanford experience has been a game changer.
Being able to see challenges through this new glass opens a whole set of
new possibilities in my journey as a social entrepreneur.

Getting to know the diverse team and participants at this program and being
able to interact and build an amazing social network are definitely a plus.

It was truly a very rewarding experience, that demands excellence in efforts

and that was totally possible to achieve. I am proud of myself and my
colleagues at the Stanford dt programm and I am sure some of us will be
soon changing the world for good with this valuable learning and support
system.'
Fortuna Ludmir
Cohort 7
President, Social Entrepreneur
USA
 Jonathan Yu
Cohort 8
Customer Experience Associate, General Assembly Pizza, Canada
C8 - Intellectual Contribution Award (ICA) Winner
Jiemin Seah
Cohort 8
Art Director, Bytedance
Singapore
Raymundo Aguilar
Cohort 8
Partner, Promotora ACCSE
Brazil
Dakshesh Patel
Cohort 8
Entrepreneur, Twine & Cordage
Zimbabwe

Jennifer Litwiller
Cohort 8
Project Management Cardiothoracic &
Vascular Surgery, CVICU
USA
My name is Jennifer Litwiller and I participated in Stanford Design Thinking: From Insights to Viability,
Cohort 8. I have a bachelor's degree in Psychology, a master's degree in Higher Education
Administration, and have work experience in both higher education and corporate settings. Presently
I am involved in Project Management, Data Management, and Marketing for CT Assist in
Harrisonburg, VA. CT Assist is a Healthcare Solutions Company specializing in Cardiothoracic and
Vascular Surgery staffing.
CT Assist is a young company just starting to come out of start up mode. I took this course to expand
my knowledge and skills in order to help facilitate change management as our team moves into new
tech platforms and processes. My experience with the program was excellent. The platform used was
easy to navigate and it was helpful to go through the program with an assigned partner, a small team
of 4, and a larger team led by our course facilitator. There were optional social hours as well during
which I connected with another group of people who met regularly to provide feedback on each
other's projects throughout the course.
Some takeaways for me include asking questions about customer needs with empathy and really
listening and learning from the feedback, tackling problems without preconceived solutions, being
willing to pivot quickly, and considering all of the key partners involved in the process. I highly
recommend this program for anyone considering an opportunity to learn skills around the design
thinking process. It is well organized, highly engaging, and facilitates solid learning outcomes.
 Gopal Iyer
Cohort 8
Vice President, IIM-A
India
Mhlambululi Mafu
Cohort 8
Senior Lecturer, Botswana International
University of Science and Technology
South Africa
 From needs identification to testing business model/case, the course
facilitators and other participants on the course made this a memorable
learning experience. Through the brainstorming sessions, live discussions,
social hours, and other interactions as part of this Stanford Design Thinking
course, I was challenged to think beyond the obvious, gained knowledge on
the design thinking process, and sharpened my listening and critical thinking
skills. This course was practical and I had fun working on the innovation
challenge throughout the course. The skills acquired are already adding
value to the delivery of our value proposition to our clients. This learning
experience boosted my ability and confidence in finding solutions to
problems.

Gaston Kwa
Cohort 9
Senior Analyst-Relationship Manager,
Citibank
Cameroon
Hildegard Vasquez
Cohort 9
Head Architect, Hache Uve
Panama
Ruchika Jain
Cohort 9
Learning Consultant, Ericsson
India
 Phoebe Hindi
Cohort 8
Vice Principal (Academics), Applied Technology High school
UAE