How to grow your SMB using Human-Centred Innovation

Format:
Teams Course Online or in-house.

Group Size:
4–10 participants
(Larger groups available on request)

Duration:
Flexible delivery options:

  • 2-hour weekly sessions

  • Half-day workshops

  • Full-day workshops

Delivered online or in-house.

Approach:

Each session combines:

  • Practical theory

  • Live demonstrations

  • Hands-on exercises

  • Reflection activities

  • Short post-session quizzes

Participants leave each session with tools they can immediately apply to their work.

Price:
Subject to group size

Grow your business without wasting time, money or energy

Small businesses rarely have the luxury of large innovation teams or big budgets. This practical course shows owners and small teams how to uncover customer opportunities, test ideas quickly, and grow their business using proven methods from Human-Centred Design, Service Design, Design Thinking and Lean Startup — supported by simple AI tools.

You’ll learn how to identify real customer needs, map service experiences, test new ideas quickly and build momentum without over-engineering solutions.

Problems This Course Solves

Many small businesses want to innovate but struggle with:

  • Spending time on ideas that customers don’t actually want

  • Being too busy running the business to think strategically

  • Launching services or products without testing demand

  • Not knowing how to uncover customer insights

  • Wasting money on marketing or development that doesn’t convert

  • Difficulty identifying new growth opportunities

  • Lack of simple innovation processes that fit a small team

  • Not using AI effectively to support research, ideation or business growth

This course introduces a lean, practical innovation toolkit that fits into real businesses.

Learn more

What you’ll Learn

By the end of this course you’ll be able to:

  • Understand your customers more deeply using Human-Centred Design

  • Map customer journeys to identify service gaps and growth opportunities

  • Apply Design Thinking to generate practical business ideas

  • Test new concepts using Lean Startup experiments

  • Build simple prototypes and minimum viable services

  • Validate new products, services or offers before investing heavily

  • Use AI tools to accelerate research, idea generation and content creation

  • Create a repeatable innovation process for your business

These methods combine customer empathy with rapid experimentation, helping organisations generate ideas and quickly test whether they work in the market.

Typical Outcomes

Participants often leave with:

• Clearer understanding of customer needs
• New service or product opportunities identified
• Validated business ideas ready to launch
• Improved customer experience insights
• Faster decision making around business initiatives
• A practical innovation roadmap for the next 6–12 months

Organisational Benefits

Businesses that apply these methods can:

• Reduce risk when launching new products or services
• Identify profitable growth opportunities faster
• Improve customer satisfaction and retention
• Increase innovation without increasing headcount
• Test ideas quickly before making expensive investments
• Create a culture of experimentation and learning

Lean innovation methods emphasise rapid experimentation and customer feedback, helping organisations reduce risk and build offerings people actually want.

Course Topics

Understanding Customers

  • Human-Centred Design fundamentals

  • Customer interviews and observation

  • Identifying unmet needs

Service Design for Small Business

  • Customer journey mapping

  • Service blueprint basics

  • Identifying experience gaps and opportunities

Practical Design Thinking

  • Problem framing

  • Idea generation methods

  • Prioritising opportunities

Lean Startup for Small Business

  • Minimum Viable Products (MVPs)

  • Rapid experimentation

  • Build–Measure–Learn cycles

Prototyping & Testing

  • Low-cost prototypes

  • Testing ideas with customers

  • Iterating based on feedback

AI for Small Business Innovation

  • AI for research and insight generation

  • AI for idea development

  • AI tools for marketing and customer engagement

Innovation in Small Teams

  • Running quick innovation sprints

  • Building a repeatable innovation process

  • Creating a simple growth roadmap

Ideal for…

This course is designed for:

• Small business owners and founders
• Micro-business operators
• Startup founders
• Small leadership teams
• Product or service managers in SMBs
• Consultants and freelancers looking to innovate their services
• Community organisations and social enterprises

No prior innovation or design experience required.

About our instructors

This course is delivered by the team at EXP Studio, specialists in Human-Centred Design, Service Design and innovation training.

EXP Studio works with businesses, government teams and educators to build practical innovation capability using Human-Centred methods.

The training focuses on hands-on tools and real-world application, helping organisations quickly move from ideas to tested solutions.

Participants learn practical frameworks that can be applied immediately within their business.

Bring This Course to Your Busines

To discuss delivery options or request a proposal  contact EXP Studio.

Contact Us