MBA Design Strategy Spaces

The MBA in Design Strategy (DMBA) is an MBA for creative changemakers. This two-year, low-residency program is designed for working professionals and equips students with hybrid skills in design thinking, business strategy, and leadership. You will learn how to expertly merge creativity and commerce to shape new possibilities for a world that needs it. During intensive weekend sessions held on campus, you will take full advantage of our San Francisco location—one of the world’s most dynamic ecosystems for design, technology, and social impact.

Every semester pairs core business courses with hands-on Studios and Labs, such as Market Insight Studio, Innovation Studio, and Venture Studio, where students work on real-world projects with actual clients. In these applied studios, you will analyze markets, prototype solutions, and launch new ventures with partners like Google X, the City of San Francisco, and purpose-driven startups.

The MFA in Design and MBA in Design Strategy dual degree is a three-year course of study that incorporates aspects of both programs. Students explore business models, contemporary design practices, and the hybrid spaces in between. This dual-degree option is perfect for students interested in running their own design business.

AI isn’t an add-on in the Design MBA. It’s part of how students think, prototype, and lead. Across studios and labs, students learn to use AI as a strategic amplifier — from synthesizing market insight and modeling complex systems to rapidly generating concepts, scenarios, and business models. Our Ethics/AI Lab introduces responsible use frameworks and hands-on experimentation with emerging tools, while many faculty bring real-world AI expertise into the classroom, from generative design to intelligent agents and data-driven foresight. The result is a practical, future-ready approach: students learn how to design with AI, design for AI, and lead teams in an AI-accelerated world.

DMBA students use the Hybrid Lab to prototype ideas on high-tech machines like 3D printers or create interactive experiences with arduinos, sensors, and LEDs. Accessible to all programs, this shared space is meant for hands-on making and experimentation with digital fabrication tools.

This fabrication space centers digital manufacturing and prototyping. Students can model ideas with laser cutters, create large-scale presentation graphics on our vinyl cutter, or carve materials on the 3-axis CNC (computer numerically controlled) router.