USF Design Thinking Certificate, powered by Stonehill

Apr 16, 2025 - Apr 30, 2025

Location Live Online

Full Schedule Weekly sessions are scheduled for the following Wednesdays, from (6:00 PM - 8:00 PM) EST

Wednesday :	04/16/25	(6:00 PM - 8:00 PM) EST
Wednesday :	04/23/25	(6:00 PM - 8:00 PM) EST
Wednesday :	04/30/25	(6:00 PM - 8:00 PM) EST

Instructor Doug Pace
(Click for Biography)

Doug Pace is a transformative leader and an advocate for blending human-centric design, strategic storytelling, and data science to drive exponential growth.

As CEO of Stonehill, he leads the vision of the firm and enjoys working directly with its portfolio of clients. Doug founded Stonehill with the vision of bringing agile management practices found in entrepreneurial organizations to large companies. He found that his approach also provided process and structure to small organizations allowing them to accelerate their growth.

A noted speaker and advisor to several Fortune 500 executives, Doug has earned international accolades for his creativity, insights on game theory, and application of design thinking.

Under Doug’s leadership, Stonehill has been recognized by the United States Chamber of Commerce as Emerging Business of the Year, CIO Review Magazine 20 Most Promising Performance Management Provider, and by Great Agencies as a Top Analytics & Business Intelligence Agency. Doug has been recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year by the American Business Awards and Consulting Magazine as one of the 75 Most Influential Consultants in the United States.

Prior to founding Stonehill, Doug was an equity partner and COO at an award-winning interactive agency. Under his leadership, the firm was recognized as Ad Age Magazine Top 100 Interactive Agency and Microsoft Global Partner of the Year. He had a successful exit from the firm, selling his shares after spending 15 years with the organization.

Doug currently serves on the boards of numerous schools and organizations including the Tampa Bay Economic Development Corporation, BBVA Compass Bank, Lions Eye Institute, and the Town of Belleair Infrastructure Committee. Doug graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s Degree in Natural Resource Economics, has been recognized with an Executive Fellowship in Innovation from the University of South Florida, and holds a Certificate in Energy Innovation from Stanford University.

USF Design Thinking Certification Powered by Stonehill Innovation

Immerse yourself in a problem-solving methodology that guides some of the most successful organizations across the nation. With a foundation of empathy and a focus on the wants and needs of the user, the USF Design Thinking course walks your team through the 5-step process of arriving at practical, innovative, and cost-effective solutions that enhance the customer experience at major touchpoints.

A Practical Application of Design Thinking

This course goes beyond theoretical teachings— it’s project-based and taught by real-world practitioners who have experienced proven successes with using Design Thinking. Throughout this course you will learn about the 5 steps of Design Thinking: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test.

You will then practically apply the methodology to an identified area of improvement within your organization. Beginning with an identified problem, you work to understand the user, their needs, and motivations to fully understand the complexities of the issue. From there, you will define the problem statement and ideate solutions that will provide the user with a seamless experience. Ideas are prototyped to make continuous improvements and then tested to receive feedback. In the end, you will have a human-centric, tested prototype that is ready to make an impact on your organization and the people that interact with it.

About Stonehill Innovation

The content in this course is provided by Stonehill Innovation, an award-winning expert strategy & Design Thinking firm headquartered in Tampa, Florida. They are focused on driving results through Design Thinking, business intelligence, and customer experience. They collaborate with clients to jointly define strategic goals, design creative approaches to complex challenges, and implement effective growth strategies. Learn more at stonehillinnovation.com.

Policies & Procedures

Course Fees

Course fees must be paid before beginning a class. Fees are posted for each course. Some programs have special registration procedures and requirements. These are posted on the program/course web page.

We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover Card, American Express, and company-approved purchase orders payable to USF Corporate Training and Professional Education. Personal checks, money orders, and cash are not accepted per university policy.

Attendance

To complete our open enrollment noncredit courses satisfactorily, you must attend 75 percent of multiple class meetings. One-day classes require full-day attendance. Some courses/programs may have additional completion requirements. Check the program description for details and/or check with your instructor. No course re-sits are allowed (participants that have not met the attendance requirement and are seeking a letter of completion for a course may re-register at full cost of attendance for a future offering).

Course Withdrawals / Refunds

USF reserves the right to cancel any noncredit course, in which case registration fees are fully refunded. If it becomes necessary for USF to cancel, postpone or combine courses, or change a course location, you will be notified by email or phone. It is important that we have your current contact information. If a course is cancelled, you will receive a full refund. If a registration is received after the enrollment limit has been reached, a full refund will be issued.

Withdrawals/Refunds from Corporate Training and Professional Education courses must be in writing, prior to the course start time.  Fees are associated with withdrawals/refunds.

Submit requests via email to barnesk@usf.edu. No Withdrawals or Refunds will be issued after course start date.  

Allow 5-7 working days for credit card refunds and 6-8 weeks for check refunds.

For USF policies: click here

Contact Kathy Barnes for more information at barnesk@usf.edu

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