Design Innovation Centre · IIT Hyderabad × HCD Institute
DIC Micro-Diploma in Design Thinking · 12 weeks · On campus at IIT Hyderabad
The DIC Micro-Diploma is a 12-week, cohort-based programme that teaches you to think in systems, design with rigour, and earn an IIT Hyderabad credential that carries institutional weight — in any room you walk into.
IIT Hyderabad certified
10 seats · curated cohort
₹1.5 L · any degree welcome
7 days on campus
Nordic internship pathway
Next cohort: September 2026 · 4 seats remaining · Applications close 15 Aug
The shift
Before
You solve the problem in front of you. You execute well. You know your domain. But you sometimes sense there’s a bigger question underneath — one you don’t have the tools to ask.
After
You see the system before you see the solution. You frame problems others miss. You walk into rooms — boardrooms, interview panels, design juries — with a method and an IIT credential to back it.
Who applies
01
Working professionals
Engineers, consultants, product managers, doctors, lawyers — professionals who want design thinking capability and an IIT credential on a career already in motion. Any degree. Any sector.
02
Founders & business owners
Entrepreneurs who build products and services. Your diploma project is your own business challenge — you leave with an IIT-credentialed design research document that works in boardrooms and pitch decks.
03
Early-career professionals
Recent graduates who want to stand apart immediately. An IIT Hyderabad certification signals rigour to every hiring manager, admission committee, and investor you will ever face.
The IIT credential — what it actually means
Awarded by Design Innovation Centre, IIT Hyderabad
Part of India’s national DIC network · Ministry of Education, Govt. of India
This is not an affiliation badge. The diploma is co-awarded by IIT Hyderabad’s Design Innovation Centre — a formal institutional body under the Ministry of Education — and HCD Institute. Your final jury includes IIT faculty. The 7-day immersion is on the IIT Hyderabad campus. You become part of the IIT institutional community: the most influential academic network in Indian technology, business, and design.
Design Lead
Arjun K.
Nissan Motor Co., Japan
Senior UX Lead
Shreya R.
Siemens Mobility, Berlin
Design Lead
Priya M.
Myntra, Bengaluru
Why 10
10
seats per cohort — a studio, not a classroom
7
days on campus — IIT Hyderabad
100%
jury-evaluated · you earn it, not just attend
“The programme is selective not because we want to exclude — but because 10 people in a room, all there for the right reasons, produce a quality of thinking that 40 cannot replicate.”
— HCD Institute, admissions philosophy
Investment
₹1,50,000 tuition
For context: An ISB Executive Education short programme costs ₹2–3L for 3 days with no jury, no project, and no IIT credential. A Coursera certificate costs ₹60–80K and produces nothing you can defend in a room. This programme costs less, delivers more, and carries institutional weight.
Tuition (full programme)
₹1,50,000
IIT campus stay (est. 7 nights)
₹5,000 – ₹12,000
Travel to Hyderabad
At participant cost
Tools & software
₹0 — all free-tier
Payment in two instalments: 50% on admission confirmation, 50% before the IIT campus immersion. EMI options available — write to us. No hidden fees.
12 weeks
Weeks 1–4 · Cultivate I · Online
Foundations — Observation, Systems Thinking, Problem Framing
You learn to see before you learn to solve. Field visits, causal loop diagrams, design briefs. Modelled on NID’s Design Concepts & Concerns — one of India’s most rigorous design education traditions. Two live sessions per week.
Weeks 5–10 · Cultivate II · Online
Methods — Visual Communication, Ergonomics, Prototyping, Business Design, AI
Six specialist modules across representation, human factors, iterative prototyping, value proposition design, AI-integrated thinking, and systems futures. Ends with a mid-programme critique before IIT and HCD faculty.
Month 3 · Compose · Online + 7 days IIT campus
Your diploma project — your problem, your mentor, your jury
You bring a real design problem from your work or life. A dedicated mentor from the IIT–HCD pool is assigned. Full design research process: understand → research → ideate → prototype → test → document. Culminates in the on-campus immersion and Final Jury at IIT Hyderabad.
End of Week 12 · IIT Hyderabad campus
Final jury + DIC Micro-Diploma awarded
15-minute presentation before IIT faculty, HCD mentor, and an industry practitioner. The DIC Micro-Diploma is awarded to those who meet all evaluation criteria — not just those who complete the course. You earn it.
7 days on campus
DIC · IIT Hyderabad, Kandi
The on-campus immersion — Month 3
Studio sessions with IIT DIC faculty in design labs
Concept Mela — cohort-wide critique and open sharing
Guest lectures: IIT researchers, industry design leaders
DIC fabrication labs, 3D printing, prototyping studios
Final jury and DIC Micro-Diploma ceremony on campus
Stay in IIT hostels or campus guest house
Stay arranged by HCD Institute
Hostel / guest house · subject to availability
Accommodation billed separately · est. ₹5K–₹12K / 7 nights
Alumni voices
“
I came in as a mechanical engineer who could barely sketch. I left with an IIT diploma, a process book on automotive cockpit ergonomics, and three months later I was presenting the same framework to Nissan’s Tokyo team. The DIC credential opened the door. The methodology is what kept me in the room.
AK
Arjun Krishnamurthy
Design Lead — Interior Systems
·
Nissan Motor Co., Japan
Mechanical Engg. · Batch 2021
“
Nobody in Germany asked me where I went to undergrad. They asked what I had built, what method I used, and whether I could defend it. My diploma project — jury-presented at IIT Hyderabad — was more rigorous than anything I had done in three years of industry. That process book got me my first Berlin interview.
SR
Shreya Rathore
Senior UX Design Lead
·
Siemens Mobility, Berlin
Commerce graduate · Now in Germany · Batch 2022
“
I run a production company. My diploma project was a complete redesign of how we pitch stories to OTT platforms — we mapped the decision-maker’s journey, prototyped three pitch formats, and tested them. One of those formats opened our first Netflix India conversation. HCD gave my business a language it didn’t have before.
KM
Karthik Menon
Founder & Creative Director
·
Drishti Films, Mumbai
Business owner · Film & Content · Batch 2022
“
I had my NIFT degree. I thought I understood design. HCD showed me I understood aesthetics — not systems. My diploma project on size inclusivity in fashion e-commerce became the brief I walked into Myntra with. I am now leading the team that builds what I once only sketched.
PM
Priya Malhotra
Design Lead — Customer Experience
·
Myntra, Bengaluru
NIFT + HCD · Now at Myntra · Batch 2023
The Nordic Design Index — Graduate Programmes in HCD & Sustainability
Alumni testimonial template — for HCD Institute team
Use this to collect verified graduate voices for each batch
Prompt 1 — The before
Where were you professionally when you joined — your role, background, and the specific gap you needed to fill?
Prompt 2 — The turning point
Describe one moment, assignment, or session that changed how you think — not what you learned, but what shifted.
Prompt 3 — The diploma project
What did you work on, and what happened to that work after the jury? Did it become something real?
Prompt 4 — The credential
Has the IIT Hyderabad DIC credential appeared in a conversation, interview, or opportunity you can share?
Prompt 5 — To someone considering it
If a friend in your exact situation two years ago asked whether to apply — what would you tell them, honestly?
Collection note: Gather via private Google Form or 30-minute recorded conversation. Obtain written consent to publish name, role, and employer. For anonymity, use initials and city. Aim for 2 verified testimonials per batch. Prioritise diversity of domain, gender, and academic background in what is featured publicly.
Admissions
We do not admit by grades, institution, or prestige. We admit by purpose, clarity of thinking, and genuine intent. The process is rigorous because the cohort must be — 10 people who are all there for the right reasons create something that cannot be manufactured at scale.
The statement of purpose · 2 pages
This is the application.
Like the world’s leading design and business schools, the statement of purpose is the most important part of admission. Not your grades. Not your employer. What matters is whether you can articulate clearly: who you are, what you want to solve, and why now. We read every statement personally. There is no committee review — the programme director reads yours.
I.
What has brought you to this point — your professional or personal context, the moment you began to sense a gap in how you think?
II.
What specific problem, opportunity, or challenge do you intend to work on for your diploma project — and why does it matter?
III.
What do you intend to do with this credential and capability — what door does it open, or what does it make possible?
1
Application form
Basic profile — name, education, current role or business, domain of interest for your diploma project.
2
Statement of purpose · 2 pages
Addressing the three prompts above. This is your application. Take it as seriously as you would a Parsons or Wharton essay.
3
Portfolio or work samples · optional
Not required. Relevant for applicants with prior creative, research, or product work they wish to share.
4
20-minute conversation
A conversation with the programme director — not a test. We want to understand your project and your intent.
5
Decision within 5 working days
10 seats. Rolling admissions — applications reviewed in order received. Earlier is always better.
What you walk away with
01
IIT Hyderabad on your credential
The DIC joint diploma carries the weight of India’s premier technology institution — on LinkedIn, in pitches, in applications, and in every room where credentials matter.
02
The IIT institutional network
You join the IIT Hyderabad community — alumni events, the DIC network across India, and the broader IIT ecosystem of technology, business, and policy leaders.
03
A jury-validated process book
A portfolio-grade design research document on a real problem — IIT-evaluated, defensible, and ready for any interview, pitch, or postgraduate admission.
04
A design method that lasts
Not a workshop highlight reel. A 12-week practice built on NID and Parsons intellectual lineage — a way of thinking you carry permanently.
05
Iceland internship pathway
Diploma graduates may apply for design internships at HCD’s Nordic university partners in Iceland — competitive, merit-based, genuinely international.
06
Advanced HCDx eligibility
A recognised stepping stone to HCD Institute’s advanced fellowship programmes in product building, UX design, and design leadership.
Our instructor
Deepak John Mathew
Professor at IITHyderabad
Kawahya Tizhe
Public Health & Epidemiology Expert
Questions
September 2026 Cohort · 4 seats remaining
10 seats. One cohort. The next one after this is January 2027. If you are thinking about it — now is the time to begin your statement of purpose.
Questions? Write to us at admissions@hcd.institute · Response within 24 hours
