getting started
Do you want to experience multiple aspects of the CMUiii online program?
Below, you’ll get a taste
of the CMUiii online experience
with sneak peeks into courses, workload previews,
and student and faculty testimonials.
What does flexibility & pacing mean for me?
The culture of flexibility, student-driven pacing, and work-life balance is woven throughout many areas of the CMUiii online program.
As a student, you experience the same in-depth education as on-campus students, but with the flexibility to take classes from anywhere.
You also have the flexibility to earn a single certificate, to earn select certificates, or to stack all certificates and earn a master’s degree. You can enroll in one class or multiple classes each semester.
Experience what the course workload feels like, how students manage this, and how professors and staff engage in the CMUiii culture of flexibility.
online program overview
In the CMUiii online program, you should expect a balance between flexibility and structure.
time management
As a student, you are expected to devote 10 hours per week to a course.
Your time-management and autonomous learning skills, along with the well-crafted course structure, will be your pacing guide.
Your time-management and autonomous learning skills, along with the well-crafted course structure, will be your pacing guide.
What students are saying about balancing school and life:
being a student
- As a student, you are expected to devote 10 hours per week to a course.
- Your time-management and autonomous learning skills, along with the well-crafted course structure, will be your pacing guide.
your time will be spent
- Completing reading and watching prerecorded lectures.
- Connecting with peers in asynchronous discussion activites.
- Working on assignments.
- Attending synchronous meetings (weekly synchronous Carnegie Classes with your instructor and peers, group meetings, and optional virtual office hours with your instructor).
In the iii Balancing Coursework with Other Obligations video,
Teresa Cain shares how this could be done.
talk with our admissions team
faculty testimonial
sneak peek into
Innovation of Services & Experiences
Although the CMUiii online program courses are rigorous, you will always find support and methods to help you think through content and activities, to submit work on time, and to maintain a work-study-life balance.
Take a sneak peek into 49-601 to see how students provide check-ins and get support during the synchronous Carnegie Classroom meetings.
what will I learn , what will I do?
In the CMUiii online program, you’ll create innovative product concepts using the strong foundational knowledge you gain in business, design, and engineering. Our courses help you push the boundaries of what’s possible to create the next generation of products and services.
Check out how teamwork, learning resources, discussions, and assignments allow you to build knowledge, apply skills, and then craft products and services using human-centered design.
You will grow your knowledge of core concepts in business, engineering, and design, which will help you see how insights from each discipline can sharpen your product ideas. If you know nothing about a topic or discipline, no worries!
There are optional resources to help fill in knowledge gaps: virtual office hours with your instructor, Carnegie Classroom synchronous sessions to ask questions, and teams that are intentionally structured so that you have a chance to learn from your peers who come from various professional backgrounds.
View this Team Contract Group Assignment and Team Contract Guiding Questions in 49–608:
Professional Practice of Product Innovation to see how team formation will support your knowledge development and skill growth. Likewise, see how the team evaluation in the course focuses on cultivating a growth mindset and helping each other build skills.
**Ready for a CMUiii sample experience?
How would you want to work as a team throughout the semester?
How would you prefer to collaborate effectively?
How would you leverage teamwork to learn from your peers?
Sneak peek into 49–607 Product Strategy and Planning: Learning resources enable you to explore topics in depth, whether you are encountering these concepts for the first time or the content is familiar to you. If you already know about the topic, you will gain specific insights in the product development context. See how the 607 Corporate Finance Lectures take you step-by-step deep into business content.
See how the 607 Corporate Finance Lectures build your depth of knowledge step by step into business content.
Sneak peek into 49–602 Designing for Production and Sustainability: See how this content on Material Selection and Trade-Offs allows you to deeply explore the material selection process and how to approach trade-offs. If you already know about the topic, you have opportunities to stretch your skills through applying the learned concepts on your specific product design or project.
Learn more about 49–602 Designing for Production and Sustainability
Sneak peek into 49–605 User Research for Digital and Physical Products: Courses are designed to allow you to gain knowledge, check your understanding, and then immediately practice these concepts. See how several topics in the area of research in product development are introduced in the Week 1 lecture, “Research in Product Development.” You will then apply these concepts as you conduct UX research for your course projects.
**Ready for a CMUiii sample experience? After you watch the lecture, answer the following 10 questions. Note that two of them have no wrong answers.
Learn more about 49–605 User Research for Digital and Physical Products
Courses allow you to build on your existing strengths and newly acquired knowledge. You will have many opportunities to apply the skills needed to succeed in the world of business and innovation and to see how theoretical methods and principles impact innovation work. There are a variety of business, engineering, and design tools that allow you to grow your skills and collaborate with peers. Take a sneak peek into courses and hear from CMUiii online program students. Sneak peek into 49–603 Cyber-Physical Product Design Think coding is hard to learn? Here’s how a CMUiii online program professor challenges that idea! “Developing new AI tools is like learning a new language—it’s great to be surrounded by folks who are speaking the language together. We have found that a great way to learn is to code together. So, between course meetings, we have guided coding sessions. We complete the week’s homework together, and even new programmers will understand every line. Cyber-Physical Product Design helps students learn the skills to lead a team of data scientists. Students without programming experience are given example code, and they design a machine learning (ML) solution in the form of a diagram or description. Those students with programming experience can build the ML tools without references. By the end, everyone will know the power of AI and how to pick the right tool for the job.” —Arthur Sugden Learn more about 49–603 Cyber-Physical Product Design. What students are saying about learning to use new tools: “When I became an MIIPS student, I knew that I would have the opportunity to implement tools unfamiliar to me to complete the course projects. As a student in the Product Design Innovation Certificate, I decided to learn Figma to help me accomplish the solution I designed as part of the final project for the Innovation of Services and Experiences course. One of the many things I appreciate about the MIIPS program is that it is not prescriptive. Instead, the courses pose open-ended questions to the open interpretation of the student. So, when I decided to design my final project as a working prototype with high-fidelity screen designs, I took it upon myself to learn Figma. I watched YouTube videos, looked up online tutorials, and spoke to fellow classmates to get their feedback on my work. Even though the courses are held online and I was hundreds of miles away from my peers, it was awesome to be able to hop on a call with them to chat about our classwork.” —Zhenia Dementyeva Sneak peek into 49–606 Understanding Markets for Products and Services: You will learn skills that help you ground innovation in reality. Throughout the program, you will use problem-solving methods commonly used in business, design, and engineering. Here’s a sample from 606 to learn how to price and market.
Learn more about 49–606 Understanding Markets for Products and Services.
Sneak peek into 49–601 Innovation of Services and Experiences, and 49–608 Professional Practice of Product Innovation:
Courses allow you to gain and apply skills immediately for the rapid work environment and to refine skills as you complete long-term projects. In 601, you will learn how to build a prototype in under 30 minutes, and you will build low-fidelity prototypes that gather data quickly.
In 608, you will spend weeks working in teams to form your ideas through pretotyping and prototyping.
Learn more about 49–601 Innovation of Services and Experiences, and 49–608 Professional Practice of Product Innovation.
What online students are saying about application opportunities in the real world:
CMUiii online program students have lots to say about how the program’s application opportunities prepared them for immediate workplace success.
“Learning the buyer behavior model was the most impactful for me in my day-to-day job. I’m currently working on a digital product that aims to increase sales. So, understanding how potential clients engage in purchasing decisions has informed my approach and what we’re deciding to build.” —Menelik Lewis, student in 49-606 Understanding Markets for Products and Services
What experts are saying about application opportunities in the real world: [INSERT YOUTUBE specific clip HERE]
Going deep into application enables you to design familiar products (such as a drinking vessel) and services (such as the product-service system of a cafe), as well as apps that fit with your career goals and project idea. Throughout the innovation process in your courses, you will have the flexibility to select industry-standard tools, such as Figma and Qualtrics, as well as collaborative tools, such as Miro and Slack.
Ready for a CMUiii sample experience? In 49-600 Introduction to Design Innovation, you will be asked to design an ideal drinking vessel. If you’d like to step through a piece of this project, complete the steps below to design your ideal drinking vessel.
- Look around your home, locate all drinking vessel types, and choose your favorite drinking vessel.
- What criteria did you use to make your decisions?
- Go on a shopping trip; this can take place online. Pick 4-7 drinking vessels with screenshots or your cell phone.
- From all the vessels you have observed, pick a vessel that you think will function well and another one that you don’t think will function well.
- Talk with someone you know about this. Describe why you made those selections. Together, discuss ways that you think the designs could be improved. What could enhance the faulty vessel?
- Think of three companies/brands that you admire that make physical products.
- Imagine the new drinking vessel you would like to see made by this company.
Sketch your drinking vessel, or simply describe how you envision it. What would be the front, side, top, and three-quarter views of your product? Describe its features (materials, color, finish). What benefits would it have for the user? Who would want to use it? Who wouldn’t? Why?
Workload Preview: To support the completion of the full version of this multi-week project, there are video lectures, readings, optional resources, Carnegie Classroom meetings, discussions for peer feedback, and intermediate assignments for faculty feedback. While the above steps are around 30 minutes of work, the actual workload for the full version of this activity in 49-600 is around 10 hours.
Learn more about 49-600 Introduction to Design Innovation.
In the CMUiii online program, you’ll create innovative product concepts using the strong foundational knowledge you gain in business, design, and engineering. Our courses help you push the boundaries of what’s possible to create the next generation of products and services.
Check out how teamwork, learning resources, discussions, and assignments allow you to build knowledge, apply skills, and then craft products and services using human-centered design.
being a CMUiii Online Student
Have questions for when you’re a student in the CMUiii online program?
Let’s take you through a journey to know about your classmates,
about online learning experiences,
and how our program allows you to apply
what you’ll learn in the real world from Day 1.
Who are my classmates?
The CMUiii online program is a community of diverse, multidisciplinary professionals
with engineering, design, and/or business backgrounds
who share a common drive to grow as innovators and changemakers.
Learn more about CMUiii online program students
and see how being a part of this group of makers, entrepreneurs, artists, technologists,
scientists, and lifelong learners will support your success as a student and as a working professional.
the online program cohort
group formation
“When forming teams, I look for diversity in age, race, gender, and educational background. In addition to that, I consider characteristics that impact the day-to-day team dynamics to ensure the best possible experience.” – CMUiii faculty
global reach
You will experience an online program with a global reach; take a look at our current geographical footprint. Our program helps you feel connected with your peers while keeping work-school-life balance a priority.
where are they at on the planet?
“When we are not all in person in the same city, it matters how many time zones away our collaborators are. Teams need to be either close or so far away that it’s daytime for all of them at the same time. It’s an extra added complexity if teammates have no shared daytime hours to work with, and if we can eliminate that, we will.”
what kind of stuff do they do?
“When students introduce themselves, I listen for the kind of work product and tools they use in their current roles and any skills they are developing. Knowing that three people spend all their days in Figma makes them more similar than whatever their undergraduate degree was.”
How do they approach work?
How can I start applying what I'm learning?
No matter what course you start with
and no matter what the current course topic or assignment is,
you are encouraged to connect this to your career goals.
Throughout your time in the program, you will explore this synergy
between your online learning, prior experience, and workplace projects.
This real-world connection looks different for every student. CMUiii online courses are structured so that you are easily able to carry your learning into workplaces focused on innovation and product design. See what our students, faculty, and industry experts are saying.
What students are saying about:
Workplace Connections
What faculty are saying about how courses connect to careers:
Sneak peek into 49-601 Innovation of Services and Experiences:
This real-world connection looks different for every student. CMUiii online courses are structured so that you are easily able to carry your learning into workplaces focused on innovation and product design.
No matter what course you start with and no matter what the current course topic or assignment is, you are encouraged to connect this to your career goals. Throughout your time in the program, you will explore this synergy between your online learning, prior experience, and workplace projects.
This real-world connection looks different for every student. CMUiii online courses are structured so that you are easily able to carry your learning into workplaces focused on innovation and product design.
What will my experience be like?
The CMUiii online program brings brand value, rigor, and a foundation for lifelong professional success. Program design reflects these themes at every turn as you earn that coveted CMU credential.
Throughout your time in the CMUiii online program, you’ll experience the emphasis we’ve placed on building a strong community among students, alumni, faculty, and staff. From collaborative projects and communication tools, to alumni interviews and visits with synchronous class sessions, to online office hours and responsive faculty and staff, the CMUiii online program offers many opportunities for connection.
In addition, our online fellows offer dedicated support to online students, facilitating building community among online students and providing guidance as students work together.
Read on to get a sneak peek into how we go beyond the textbook to deliver exceptional learning and connection.
Sneak peek into the CMUiii online program:
As a student, you are expected to devote 10 hours per week to a course, but what does this mean for your week?
Typically, your weekly experience would be divided among:
1. Learning resources:
completing readings and watching prerecorded lectures
2. Discussions:
connecting with peers in asynchronous discussion activities
3. Assignments:
doing assignments
(These are structured so that you can work throughout the week in order to meet the set due dates.)
4. Synchronous Components:
includes weekly synchronous Carnegie Classes with your instructor and peers.
(These are typically 90 minutes per week
or every other week on a designated weeknight evening.)
also includes meetings for any group projects
and optional virtual office hours with your instructor.
What our students are saying about networking:
We strengthen the classroom experience and student community with targeted networking moments.
Check out how we share updates to promote professional connections:
Sneak peek into the Donut:
There are multiple ways to collaborate and easily communicate with CMUiii staff, alumni, peers, faculty members, and online fellows. One way is the Donut app on Slack. CMUiii online students are randomly paired with someone else. The objective is to have randomized networking conversations with other members of the CMUiii online community to build a foundation for future connection.
Sneak peek into 49-601 Introduction to Design Innovation, and 49-608 Professional Practice of Product Innovation:
The CMUiii online program offers a variety of opportunities to combine your own knowledge, skills, experiences, and resources with those of your instructor and peers to create or improve a product or service. From Carnegie Classroom synchronous online sessions, team contracts, and individual reflections on teamwork, to team evaluations and leadership opportunities, you are provided with every opportunity to become a successful, responsible leader and team member.
Virtual teamwork, online presentations, and remote facilitation prepare you for innovating in the real world.
Sneak peek into 49-606 Understanding Markets for Products and Services:
In this course, alumni provide an industry perspective, sharing examples from their time as brand managers and industry experts. The CMUiii program has alumni in many sectors. This powerful alumni community can offer connections, insight, and support during your time as a student and throughout your career.
after completing the program
(marketing to produce this section)