Describing the ROI of Design

Explain the value of your design work in a way that stakeholders understand, appreciate, and reward.

4.7

(152) · 2 weeks · Cohort-based course

$799

4.7

(152)

Upcoming cohorts
November 12 - 17
10:00 – 11:30 PT
November 18 - 22
10:00 – 11:30 PT
Enroll today
Or Join the waitlist

Describing the ROI of Design

Explain the value of your design work in a way that stakeholders understand, appreciate, and reward.

Course overview

Learn business school tactics to be seen, heard, and valued in your organization

At Airbnb, I experienced the magic that happens when business leaders truly understand Design. What if everyone understood the value of design and empowered you to do the best work of your career?

Describing the ROI of Design gives you tools to break through to business leaders. Through frameworks, lessons, and tactics taught in top business programs, you will develop the skills to articulate and demonstrate the value of your work in a way that resonates with non-designers across all levels of your organization.

If you want more room to do great work, want leaders to listen to your design rationale, want to be more involved in the product development process, or want to drive more impact as a designer in your organization, this course is for you.

What you’ll get out of this
course

A new business perspective on your design work’s value
Through five proprietary frameworks developed from Ryan’s experience persuading execs, expand how you think about the business value of your work.
Personalized 1:1 feedback and guidance
Through exercises and Q&A, get feedback, advice, and tactics Personalized 1:1 guidance Ryan to ensure course content is immediately applicable to your specific situation
Access to an engaged group of international expert designers
The course attracts Senior Product Designers to VPs of Design. Through small, live cohorts, get feedback and advice from expert designers around the world.
A communication style that resonates with stakeholders
Lectures pull the most valuable lessons from 11 MBA courses—including Entrepreneurship, Statistics, Finance, Negotiation, Marketing, Economics & more—to help you speak the same language as business stakeholders.

Who this course is for

01
Experienced UX designers who want to develop business acumen to influence more strategic and impactful product work
02
Design managers who must collaborate with and persuade founders, executives, and other cross-functional leaders
03
Designers who work in Product or Eng-led environments where good Design must be strongly and carefully advocated for
04
Designers interested in business, but who want to pick up key business skills without the huge cost of business school

Course overview

Learn business school tactics to be seen, heard, and valued in your organization

At Airbnb, I experienced the magic that happens when business leaders truly understand Design. What if everyone understood the value of design and empowered you to do the best work of your career?

Describing the ROI of Design gives you tools to break through to business leaders. Through frameworks, lessons, and tactics taught in top business programs, you will develop the skills to articulate and demonstrate the value of your work in a way that resonates with non-designers across all levels of your organization.

If you want more room to do great work, want leaders to listen to your design rationale, want to be more involved in the product development process, or want to drive more impact as a designer in your organization, this course is for you.

What you’ll get out of this course

A new business perspective on your design work’s value
Through five proprietary frameworks developed from Ryan’s experience persuading execs, expand how you think about the business value of your work.
A communication style that resonates with stakeholders
Speak the same language as business leaders with lessons from 11 MBA courses—including Entrepreneurship, Statistics, Finance, Negotiation, Marketing & more.
Personalized 1:1 guidance
Through exercises and Q&A, get feedback, advice, and tactics from Ryan to ensure course content is immediately applicable to your specific situation
Access to an engaged group of international expert designers
The course attracts Senior Product Designers to VPs of Design. Through small, live cohorts, get feedback and advice from expert designers around the world.

Who this course is for

01
Experienced UX designers who want to develop business acumen to influence more strategic and impactful product work
02
Design managers who must collaborate with and persuade founders, executives, and other cross-functional leaders
03
Designers who work in Product or Eng-led environments where good Design must be strongly and carefully advocated for
04
Designers interested in business, but  who want to pick up key business skills without the huge cost of business school

Curriculum & schedule

Our four-session curriculum delivers 6-hours of lecture + 4-hours of optional Q&A help you learn quickly while fitting class into your busy schedule.

Week 1
November cohort
DECEMBER cohort
Session 1
Connect Design to business metrics
Gain influence through frameworks that show non-designers how your design work connects to business and financial impact.
11/12
10 – 11:30 PT
8/12
10 – 11:30 PT
Session 2
Get credit for your total business impact
Go beyond metrics to be recognized for the different types of business value and impact your work creates.
11/14
10 – 11:30 PT
8/14
10 – 11:30 PT
Week 2
June cohort
DECEMBER cohort
Session 3
Tailor tactics to your environment
Create a winning strategy to gain credibility and influence by adapting to your company’s stage, culture, and collaboration style.
11/19
10 – 11:30 PT
8/19
10 – 11:30 PT
Session 4
Drive your company towards Design
Get credit for all of the impact you create by showing how your work delivers different types of business value across different levels of the organization.
11/21
10 – 11:30 PT
8/21
10 – 11:30 PT

Curriculum

Our four-session curriculum delivers 6-hours of lecture + 4-hours of optional Q&A help you learn quickly while fitting class into your busy schedule.

Session 1
Connect Design to business metrics
Gain influence through frameworks that show non-designers how your design work connects to business and financial impact.
Session 2
Get credit for your total business impact
Get credit for all of the impact you create by showing how your work delivers different types of business value.
Session 3
Tailor tactics to your environment
Create a winning strategy to gain credibility and influence by adapting to your company’s stage, culture, and collaboration style.
Session 4
Drive your company towards Design
Apply MBA-level go-to-market tactics for identifying high-demand ideas, neutralizing detractors, and creating a movement of allies around your ideas.

Upcoming cohorts

November 12 - 22, 2024
10:00 – 11:30am PT
Tuesdays & Thursdays
Enroll now

Highly rated by designers at leading organizations

Reviews for Describing the ROI of Design

Describing the ROI of Design has given designers at all career stages the business tools, vocabularly, and frameworks to succeed in their organizations

Design Leaders
Designers
“Ryan’s course was full of practical tools, frameworks, and stories. I recommend it to anybody who wants to up level themselves or their team to be an effective product builder.”
Kevin
Head of Product Design
@ Webflow
dominic-testimonial
“Throughout the course I had many a-ha moments. Ryan did an amazing job transforming the reality of many design leaders out there into easy to understand frameworks.”
DOMINIC
Head of Design, Workshops 
@ Miro
“This was just what I needed to level up how I frame and sell the value of design. Any current or aspiring design leader will benefit greatly from this course!”
KATHY
Senior Manager, UX Design
@ Salesforce
“An MBA condensed into 6 hours, tailored for design leads. High-quality, hands-on knowledge from start to finish. This is one of those courses that's worth every cent.”
Muka Péter Dániel
Sr Design Manager
@ Tricentis
“I wish this was taught in design school! Ryan builds on his rich industry experience to discover, define, demonstrate the value of design, and then bring change through stakeholder management.”
Rasagy
Senior Design ManageR
@ Capital One
“Ryan's course is legit! It reinforced concepts I already had an intuitive grasp of, but presented them from a fresh perspective, solid frameworks and with practical examples from his experience at top tech companies.”
Dynin
Design Director
@ Kraken Crypto Exchange
“ Things I learned from this course enabled me to lead some of our most important strategic conversations inside my complex and chaotic organization. It has increased my candidacy for a big promotion.”
JORDAN
Lead Product Designer
@ Linux Foundation
“Remarkably, the course addressed critical questions that designers often hesitate to ask, hitting the nail on the head in areas we needed most. Definitely a must-join for anyone in design.”
Wendy
Senior Product Designer
@ Amazon
“I had limited knowledge of the business side before, but this course has given me a significant advantage. It'll help me better collaborate with my PMs!”
Chibuzor O.
Product Designer
@ Microsoft
“This was a great course! Lots of insights and actionable frameworks that I'm looking forward to bringing back to my design practice and organization.”
HOPE
Senior Product Designer
@ HubSpot
“This course is an investment to your career if you're interested in up-leveling your understanding of how design impacts a company's objectives.”
Catherine
Staff Product Designer
@ Reddit
“Ryan gives you frameworks and tactics that will impact your work immediately. I would recommend this course to any designer looking to level-up their career and impact within a business.”
Kyle Lambert
Staff Product Designer
@ Webflow

Reviews for Describing the ROI of Design

Describing the ROI of Design has given designers at all career stages the business tools, vocabularly, and frameworks to succeed in their organizations

Design Leaders
Designers

“Ryan’s course was full of practical tools, frameworks, and stories. I recommend it to anybody who wants to up level themselves or their team to be an effective product builder.”

Kevin
Head of Product Design
@ Webflow
dominic-testimonial

“Throughout the course I had many a-ha moments.
Ryan did an amazing job transforming the reality of many design leaders out there into easy to understand frameworks.”

Dominic
Head of Design, Workshops
@Miro

“This was just what I needed to level up how I frame and sell the value of design. Any current or aspiring design leader will benefit greatly from this course!”

Kathy
Senior Manager, UX Design
@ Salesforce

“An MBA condensed into 6 hours, tailored for design leads. High-quality, hands-on knowledge from start to finish. This is one of those courses that's worth every cent.”

Muka Péter Dániel
Sr Design Manager
@ Tricentis

“I wish this was taught in design school! Ryan builds on his rich industry experience to discover, define, demonstrate the value of design, and then bring change through stakeholder management.”

Rasagy
Senior Design ManageR
@ Capital One

“Ryan's course is legit! It reinforced concepts I already had an intuitive grasp of, but presented them from a fresh perspective, solid frameworks and with practical examples from his experience at top tech companies.”

Dynin
Design Director @ Kraken Crypto Exchange
jordan-testimonial

“ Things I learned from this course enabled me to lead some of our most important strategic conversations inside my complex and chaotic organization. It has increased my candidacy for a big promotion.”

Jordan
Lead Product Designer
@Linux Foundation

“Remarkably, the course addressed critical questions that designers often hesitate to ask, hitting the nail on the head in areas we needed most. Definitely a must-join for anyone in design.”

Wendy
Senior Product Designer
@ Amazon

“I had limited knowledge of the business side before, but this course has given me a significant advantage. It'll help me better collaborate with my PMs!”

Chibuzor O.
Product Designer
@ Microsoft
hope-testimonial

“This was a great course! Lots of insights and actionable frameworks that I'm looking forward to bringing back to my design practice and organization.”

Hope
Senior Product Designer @ HubSpot

“This course is an investment to your career if you're interested in up-leveling your understanding of how design impacts a company's objectives.”

Catherine
Staff Product Designer
@ Reddit

“Ryan gives you frameworks and tactics that will impact your work immediately. I would recommend this course to any designer looking to level-up their career and impact within a business.”

Kyle Lambert
Staff Product Designer
@ Webflow

Meet your instructor

Ryan Scott, MBA
Design & Product Leader · Leadership coach · Start-up advisor
ryan_portrait
For nearly 20 years, Ryan has run multiple businesses, coached hundreds of designers, and led numerous cross-functional teams to launch some of today’s most recognizable products.

As an early employee at DoorDash, he reported to one of the company’s co-founders and led multiple 0-to-1 product launches despite complex cross-functional politics.

At Airbnb, his work was regularly reviewed by Brian Chesky. He managed dozens of stakeholders across multiple teams, using a combination of data and storytelling to get buy-in to overhaul the company’s most business-critical products, including the booking flow, messaging platform, search platform, and Host availability & pricing tools.

Ryan believes that business expertise will unlock influence and meaningful work for the next generation of Design leaders. In addition to a BA in graphic design, he earned an MBA from U.C. Berkeley's Haas School of Business, which consistently ranks among the top MBA programs in the world.
ryan_portrait

FAQs

I work full-time. Do I have time for this course?

This course is designed for full-time design professionals. Live sessions are 3 hours a week. The 1-hour feedback session is optional, as are the projects.

Do I have to attend all live sessions?

Every session is recorded in case you're not able to attend live. However, the course is more engaging live, so I highly recommend you plan to attend all sessions.

Can I get this course reimbursed?

Many companies offer an L&D budget that covers the cost of courses. Here's a guide to asking for a reimbursement: Getting your course reimbursed

What’s the refund policy?

As long as you attend all sessions, I'll issue you a full refund if you aren't fully satisfied.

Have another question?
Get in touch

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