Three women sit at a round table; two smile and look at a laptop, while the third writes in a notebook. Colorful sticky notes cover the whiteboards behind them.

Practica

online courses

learn and apply human-centered design on your own time

Practica’s free online courses offer a self-guided learning environment to help you build your human-centered design skills and improve customer experience (CX). Unlike most design training options, Practica courses are tailor-made for learners working in and with public institutions. 

courses

Build core skills for designing human-centered public services and apply them to real projects.

Three women sit at a desk in an office, smiling and talking. Papers, a computer, and office supplies are visible on the desk. File cabinets and cubicle walls are in the background. The image is in black and white.

Foundations

An introductory course on human-centered design for people working to improve public services.

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Three people are sitting on a carpeted floor, closely collaborating as they sketch on a long sheet of paper. One holds a drawing, another points, and there is a roll of tape nearby. Their faces are not visible.

design principles

Learn how to assess and refine public-facing materials using best practices in accessibility, visual design, and content design.

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User Research

Learn how to conduct user interviews and on-site observations that can guide your design process.

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Stakeholder Engagement + Storytelling

Learn how to build resilient relationships with your project’s stakeholders using the power of storytelling.

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User Testing

Learn when, why, and how to get ongoing user feedback on your paper and digital designs.

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Implementation

Learn how to move from prototype to real-world implementation by testing your design, training teams, communicating changes, and ensuring users remain at the center.

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A person holds an Michigan Assistance Application form listing healthcare, food, cash, child care, and emergency relief programs, with instructions and colorful program icons visible on the page.

Applications

Learn how to design a simple, usable benefits application, and start building institutional support for your project.

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Correspondence

Learn how to design public-facing correspondence that reduces confusion and improves the user experience.

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learn on your own or as a team

Whether you want to skill up on your own or address customer experience mandates as a team, our online courses allow you to move at your own pace and focus on what matters most. 

We’ll share:

  • Real Civilla case studies
  • Best practices we’ve honed over a decade
  • Templates that are ready to use
  • Practical tips for applying HCD concepts to your work
  • Tools that help you to re-center the people you serve
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I appreciated the modern and progressive content. I felt like I was actually LEARNING! It gave me a lot of tools that I can directly apply to my work.

Christine Hauschildt, Hennepin Health

real insights from real case studies

You’ll learn directly from Civilla designers through videos like this, where we walk you through design and language changes we implemented for a key benefits application in Michigan. Practica courses use insights from real case studies that you can apply to your work immediately. 

more ways to learn through practica

Skill Sprints

Focused, facilitated training in one to three days that builds your team’s human-centered design skills. You’ll bring a real customer experience challenge and walk away with practical skills and a shared framework that your team can start applying immediately. 

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Accelerators

Six months of deep human-centered design practice that builds your team’s capacity for improving customer experience. Through interactive workshops and targeted coaching with experienced Civilla instructors, your team will make meaningful progress on a project by applying new concepts in real time. 

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enrollment help

If you have trouble signing up, reach out to us at practicaonline@civilla.org.