d.MBA—
Where Design Meets Business
My experience in the d.MBA program has reshaped how I approach design, not just as a creative discipline, but as a strategic tool that can drive meaningful business impact. By merging design thinking with core business fundamentals, I’ve developed the skills to bridge the gap between creative vision and commercial strategy. This journey has equipped me to speak the language of business without compromising the heart of human-centered design.
📘 What is the d.MBA?
The d.MBA is a virtual business program tailored for designers, empowering them with the knowledge and tools to align design decisions with impactful business outcomes.
🎯 Why is it useful?
The program blends business strategy with design thinking, empowering designers to elevate human-centered design through commercial clarity and stakeholder resonance.
⚙️ How Does It Work?
The d.MBA program delivers a structured curriculum that blends business strategy with design practice—empowering designers to make informed, impact-driven decisions.
WEEK 1: BUSINESS EMPATHY
In the first week of the d.MBA program, I explored the competitive landscape through a business empathy lens, uncovering market dynamics, key players, and emerging trends to sharpen my strategic edge as a designer.
I conducted competitor research to understand how others create value and differentiate themselves, helping me position my own work more effectively in the market. Learning to analyze value chains revealed where design can deliver the highest impact across production and delivery from internal operations to customer-facing experiences.
By the end of the week, I had developed foundational business fluency that now informs how I approach user-centered design, ensuring my work isn’t just intuitive and engaging, but strategically aligned and commercially relevant.
Understanding who we really compete with is the basis for making business decisions.
📺 Assignment 1: Reframing Netflix
Scenario:
Netflix once revolutionized entertainment by putting the power of choice in viewers’ hands. But today, as competitors chip away at its dominance and consumer behaviors shift, Netflix faces a critical inflection point. To understand how Netflix can reclaim its edge, we’ll examine the strategic decisions it must make under pressure.
Ask:
Develop business empathy for the streaming industry through Netflix’s perspective. Analyze its competitive environment, strategic response, and evolving position in a saturated market.
🔒 View Full AssignmentWEEK 2: BUSINESS STRATEGY
Strategy is choosing what to do and what not to do.
In Week 2 of the d.MBA program, I deepened my fluency in business strategy, exploring how leading companies craft winning approaches—and how design can play a pivotal role in activating those strategies.
Through frameworks like the Strategy Canvas, ERRC Grid, and Michael Porter’s Competitive Strategies, I learned to spot differentiation opportunities, leverage cost advantages, and focus on underserved markets—all key principles that now shape how I position and validate design decisions.
The introduction of Blue Ocean Strategy expanded my lens even further, inspiring me to identify new market spaces where design can create demand and eliminate competition.
Pairing this with the ‘Playing to Win’ framework taught me to define business aspirations, choose target markets, and align design capabilities with strategic levers that drive growth.
These foundations have transformed my approach—equipping me to craft design solutions that aren’t just user-centered, but strategically positioned to stand out, scale impact, and support visionary business goals.
📚 Assignment 2: Deconstructing Wikipedia's Strategy
Scenario:
At a time when encyclopedias were gatekept by institutions and experts, Wikipedia took a radical leap: it handed the pen to the public. What began as an experiment in open collaboration quickly evolved into one of the most visited websites on the planet. But this success wasn’t accidental—it was the result of a bold strategic trade-off that prioritized trust, transparency, and community over control. To understand how Wikipedia carved out its own competitive space and continues to thrive, we need to unpack the choices that shaped its trajectory.
Ask:
Explore the trade-off that fueled Wikipedia’s success and how its human-centered model sustains relevance in a competitive digital landscape.
🔒 View Full Assignment
WEEK 3: BUSINESS MODELS
Business models explain how companies create, deliver, and capture value.
This week in the d.MBA program was all about sharpening my ability to design with business viability in mind. I explored the building blocks of successful business models—value propositions, customer segments, revenue streams—and analyzed how companies like Apple, Amazon, and Uber structure their strategies to deliver and capture value at scale.
Armed with tools like the Business Model Canvas, I learned how to map, challenge, and refine new business models tailored to design ventures. Through hands-on exercises, I practiced iterating based on performance metrics and user feedback, ensuring the concepts weren’t just theoretical, but rooted in market reality.
By the end of Week 3, I had strengthened my ability to apply business modeling as a strategic lens for design. Experimenting with user insights and performance indicators through these iterative exercises allowed me to shape concepts into actionable strategies that resonate in live markets.
🧘 Assignment 3: Expanding Headspace Through Human Connection
Scenario:
Headspace is considering a physical extension of its digital wellness platform. The aim is to create a real-world space that encourages deeper engagement, nurtures community, and promotes mental wellbeing through face-to-face connection.
Ask:
Design a business model that uses physical space as a strategic asset. It should unlock new revenue opportunities while centering human connection, guided experiences, and inclusive wellness. Consider how spatial design can reflect Headspace’s values and meet evolving user needs.
🔒 View Full Assignment
WEEK 4: PROTOTYPING WITH NUMBERS
In Week 4 of the d.MBA program, I gained essential tools to quantify the impact of my design work through financial modeling and strategic analysis. I learned how to estimate market potential using TAM (Total Addressable Market) and pinpoint the most relevant customer segments—giving me the ability to evaluate the real-world viability of new projects.
I also mastered how to articulate the value of design through compelling business cases that align with organizational priorities. These include outlining objectives, mapping risks, weighing benefits, and analyzing costs with clarity and confidence.
Equipped with methods to link design decisions directly to business outcomes, I now draw on both qualitative and quantitative data to reinforce the financial logic behind my work. From measuring ROI to forecasting strategic gains, I approach every design challenge with a sharper eye toward business success.
Numbers are a design tool that can help us design experiences, products, operations, business models, etc.
By the end of Week 4, I was ready to scope new ventures, size their market fit, and build testable, financially-sound design strategies grounded in commercial relevance and long-term value.
📈 Assignment 4: SaaS Optimization for Customer Retention
Scenario:
A US-based SaaS company is grappling with a 10% annual churn rate that’s steadily undermining its growth trajectory. With recurring revenue at risk, leadership is seeking a strategic intervention to stabilize retention and unlock long-term value. Your role is to explore how design can play a pivotal part in reversing this trend.
Task:
Propose a design-led initiative that reduces churn by 1%. Estimate its budget and calculate the financial impact if successful. Your solution should reflect empathy for user needs and demonstrate how thoughtful design can drive measurable business outcomes.
🔒 View Full AssignmentWEEK 5: BUSINESS AND DESIGN METRICS
In Week 5 of the d.MBA program, I developed a strategic approach to tracking the real-world impact of design through data. I explored essential business metrics like revenue, net profit margin, customer acquisition cost, and retention rate—strengthening my ability to align design decisions with financial outcomes.
I also applied the Design Metrics Canvas, a visualization tool that helps define and communicate how design contributes to business goals. This framework enabled me to map measurable design KPIs and tie them directly to performance benchmarks.
Adopting a hypothesis-driven design process, I learned to test assumptions about design effectiveness using both qualitative insight and quantitative validation.
Behind all quantifiable metrics is a human story.
Each decision became an opportunity to iterate, measure, and optimize for business success.
By the end of the week, I was equipped to create data-informed design strategies, monitor their performance, and confidently communicate return on investment to stakeholders. My design work now speaks not only to user needs, but to business impact, clarity, and growth potential.
🕶️ Assignment 5: Apple Vision Pro Adoption Challenge
Scenario:
Apple’s Vision Pro headset launched with high expectations—but early sales have fallen short, prompting a reduction in production. This signals deeper challenges around user adoption, perceived value, and market readiness for spatial computing. Your task is to step into Apple’s shoes and explore how the company might reframe its strategy to unlock broader engagement.
Ask:
Analyze barriers to adoption and propose actionable strategies to reach sales goals, improve relevance, and expand user engagement with this emerging product category.
🔒 View Full AssignmentWEEK 6: EXPANDING YOUR DESIGN INFLUENCE
The final week of the d.MBA program focused on elevating the role of design within business strategy. I explored how designers can step beyond execution to become influential partners in decision-making, growth, and long-term success.
I learned how to extend my sphere of influence by engaging stakeholders, joining strategic conversations, and contributing design-driven insights that shape organizational direction. Through this, design moves from support function to strategic catalyst.
Using tools like the Design Metrics Canvas, I practiced quantifying the outcomes of design choices with measurable KPIs that tie directly into broader business objectives, transforming intuitive UX decisions into evidence-backed drivers of success.
Measure and Show the Value of Design Decisions: Designers are equipped with tools and methodologies to quantify the impact of their design choices.
Nobody cares about design.
Everybody cares about their problems.
They learn to set and track design-specific KPIs that align with broader business goals, demonstrating how design contributes to the company’s success.
I also sharpened my ability to build lasting relationships with business leaders, learning collaborative techniques that foster trust, transparency, and momentum for strategic design initiatives across teams.
By the end of Week 6, I had developed the strategic, analytical, and interpersonal tools needed to advocate for design, influence high-level decisions, and drive meaningful results, positioning experience design as a vital engine for business transformation.
HOW HAS THE d.MBA IMPACTED MY DESIGN APPROACH?
Completing the d.MBA program marked a turning point in my design journey. I’m deeply grateful for the experience as it expanded my lens beyond intuitive creativity to a business-driven mindset that now underpins how I craft meaningful, high-impact solutions.
With a stronger grasp of financial modeling, strategic alignment, and market dynamics, I approach every design challenge with greater clarity and purpose. My work now serves not just the user, but the business as a whole, addressing needs, generating value, and inspiring stakeholder confidence.
Through this journey, I’ve also gained practical skills in leadership, influence, and negotiation which allows me to more effectively articulate human-centered design as a powerful force for business growth. I’m excited to apply these learnings to future collaborations, bringing both empathy and strategy to the table in equal measure.
OTHER WORK
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