You + InceptionU

The Transformation Design Program

This part-time 6 month virtual program is hands-on and project-based, giving you the foundation of the skills and experience necessary to navigate and redesign complex systems with a human-centered lens.

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The material features a captivating interplay of purple and blue hues that shift and change with light creating a mesmerizing iridescent effect Its surface is intricately textured adding depth and dimension with a slightly glossy finish that enhances-1

Making radical improvement possible

Approach ambiguity with clarity, and create sustainable change across sectors.

Transformation design is a human-centered, transdisciplinary process that seeks to create desirable, feasible, viable, and sustainable changes in the behavior of individuals, systems, and organizations.

It is a multi-stage, iterative process of applying design principles to large and complex systems and their associated problems and unrealized potential. The Transformation Designer sees the connections between the parts, designs for evolving circumstances, and people while focusing more attention on understanding the nature of the challenge.

This hands-on and project-based program builds a foundation of the skills and experience necessary to take the transformational approach to large and small challenges alike. It pulls together skills and diverse design perspectives as well as the fundamental metaskills of critical thinking, systems thinking and complexity, creative thinking, computational thinking, prosocial collaboration, and human behaviour among others.

The Transformation Design program develops designers who examine and understand challenges holistically and dynamically, maintain the strategic connection between the overall desired success and any technical design tactics that are deployed, and steward successful prototypes as they move to implementation at scale.

What you'll get out of the Transformation Design program

Participants will come out of this program with the ability to apply deep design and discovery principles to a variety of complex challenges and opportunities to generate meaningful improvement in their products, teams, and organizations.

Understand how design works at the strategic level as well as at the more tactical discipline level, and the important connections between them.
Know how to apply knowledge of human nature and change theory to produce desirable shifts in behaviour.
Communicate your ideas with conviction and clarity.
Develop several approaches for successfully collaborating in teams, including participatory design methods where non-designers are part of the design process.

Design your future – Take the first step, today.

Our next session starts October 21st, 2025

Don’t miss out -

Our Transformational Design Team

Designing to Your Success

Greg Hart

Co-founder and Design Facilitator

Ashlyn Knox

Design Facilitator

Devon Hamilton

Design Facilitator

Margo Purcell

Co-founder and CEO

FAQs

Your questions, answered.

Who should take Transformation Design?

Leaders and managers who want to gain the capability to create transformative change inside and outside their organizations, particularly in complex environments.
Design professionals (e.g., engineers, architects, product designers, graphic designers) who want to expand their horizontal design skills and work in a transdisciplinary way with other designers and non-designers to better address complex and wicked challenges.
People who want to focus on the design competencies that aren’t vulnerable to automation and outsourcing, while working effectively with emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence.

What design perspectives are incorporated into the program?

This hands-on and project-based program builds a foundation of the skills and experience necessary to take the transformational approach to large and small challenges alike pulling together skills and perspectives as diverse as:

Urban design
Service design
User-centered design
Participatory design
Concept design
Information design
Industrial design
Graphic design
Motion design
Systems design
Interactive design
Experience design

What is InceptionU’s philosophy on learning?

At InceptionU, we believe that humans learn by doing. We've built experiential programs that are active, discovery driven, immersive, to build core competencies (both technical and non-technical) and challenging all in a supportive environment.

How much time outside of the classroom should I expect to dedicate to the program?

The short answer is it depends on your level of experience. Beyond the 6 hours per week of synchronous sessions with facilitators, you should allocate around 3-5 hours to consume additional content and materials, and work on projects.

Will I be required to do any preparation prior to the start of the program?

Not necessarily. Depending on your level of background and experience coming into the program, you may benefit from doing some pre-work to set yourself up for success. During the registration process we will provide additional information on how to best prepare.

Will I get a certification?

No. InceptionU emphasizes genuine learning over certification. We can confidently
tell you that our programs will lead to meaningful career opportunities. InceptionU
will provide you with the technical skills and metaskills, like critical thinking and
design thinking, that you need to succeed in your future career.

What do you mean when you mention metaskills? What are they and how will they help me?

Tools don't solve problems. People do. Innovation and building better is a people-
centric activity. This means that our ability to use our metaskills - critical thinking,
systems thinking, creative thinking, computational thinking, design and
collaborative skills - are timeless competencies that are central to our future
success. And to be clear, this is not just your career; these cognitive and
interpersonal skills have impacts across all aspects of your life.

Does InceptionU provide networking opportunities?

Yes! InceptionU connects our learners in a number of ways. Our alumni bring real-
life experience from a variety of industries, our programs and curriculum are often
based on real-world examples, and we maintain strong relationships with our
business partners providing a two-way exchange of talent ideas, and challenges/
opportunities.

Is InceptionU an accredited education institution?

Fortunately, we are not! This allows us to be agile and adaptable with our curriculum as technology evolves. We are sponsored by the Hunter Family Foundation and we work closely with Calgary Economic Development (CED) and Rainforest Alberta. We consult with industry partners to design and develop curriculum that aligns with industry trends and workforce needs.

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