d.MBA review: A Designer’s Perspective

If you're interested in joining the program, let me share some thoughts on the d.MBA program — whether it’s worth your time, effort, and (quite significant) investment.

Intro

If you’ve been around the design & business space, chances are you’ve heard about d.MBA but let me do a quick 20-second intro.

d.MBA is an alternative to a traditional MBA but tailored specifically for designers. The goal is to bridge the gap between design and business, helping creatives make more informed decisions, communicate better with stakeholders, and ultimately have a bigger impact on their organizations. But is it worth it? Let me take you through my journey, insights, and some hard truths you should know before committing.

My Experience

Three things you should know about me to understand my perspective:

• I’ve been in design for quite some time, working as a lead designer, mentoring others, and lecturing on UX/UI topics.
• I’m a self-educated designer — learning is a core part of my career, and I constantly invest time in new knowledge. For many of the courses I'm writing the reviews here on Medium, follow if you're interested.
• I'm really into business design — but I don't work as a business designer, nor am I planning to become one.

I hesitated to enrol for a long time. The cohort-based model felt rigid, with strict deadlines and meetings that didn’t fit my schedule. But once they introduced a self-paced option, I decided to give it a shot.

At first, I wasn’t sure if the experience would be engaging enough without live sessions. But surprisingly, it worked well, thanks to structured mentor reflections and recorded cohort discussions that gave me fresh perspectives. Some insights truly stuck with me and changed the way I think about business in design.

With that in mind, here’s how the d.The MBA journey unfolded for me.

Cohort system & the interview process

Unlike most online courses, where you just pay and get access, d.MBA actually screens participants in a cohort-based format.

• They run three cohorts at a time, covering different time zones.
• Each cohort has up to 50 participants, making it large enough for networking but small enough for meaningful interactions (in Slack or Zoom).
• After you apply, you’re invited to a 20-minute welcome interview — which I completely missed and didn’t attend (and didn't join a cohort either).

Piece of welcome email

I’m still not sure whether it’s more of a sales call to get you acquainted or just a QA session, but either way, it seems like a good chance to ask questions and make sure it’s the right fit for you.

If you’re considering the self-paced course, it doesn’t include this interview. (Though I joined it in one of the first weeks when it was announced, so maybe that’s changed.) If you’re going the self-paced route, I highly recommend asking all your questions over email before committing to make sure it meets your expectations.

Program breakdown

The d.MBA curriculum is structured into six core areas/modules:

Module 1. Business empathy

Understanding the bigger picture — how businesses operate, their goals, and how design fits into the equation.

Module 2. Business strategy

Frameworks like Blue Ocean Strategy and Playing to Win, help designers think beyond aesthetics and user flows.

Module 3. Business models

Analyzing revenue streams, value propositions, and financial sustainability.

Module 4. Prototyping with numbers

A deep dive into estimating potential success and testing business assumptions with financial modelling.

Module 5. Business & Design metrics

Bridging the gap between qualitative UX insights and data-driven decision-making.

Module 6. Designing your impact

Real-world case studies from designers who made a significant business impact. And a call-to-action for you, to think about how you can make an impact.

Some modules were eye-opening, while others felt a bit repetitive or not directly applicable to my work. Business Empathy and Strategy stood out the most for me, while Prototyping with Numbers was less relevant (but still useful for broadening my perspective, we will return to this).

Hands-on assignments & Group learning

This program isn’t just passive learning — you’ll be working with real numbers, solving business problems, and presenting your insights every week in cohort. They use real products and companies, so be ready do some research.

A key part of the experience is peer feedback. Every week, you’ll share your work with other designers (or not designers) from different backgrounds — agency, in-house, startup, enterprise — and get diverse perspectives, along with feedback from the mentor (hi, Franz).

What I loved

1. Well-structured content — 15–20 min digestible lectures, no unnecessary fluff.
2. Practical, case-based assignments — learning by doing, not just theory.
3. Feedback and picking the brain — hearing somebody’s thought process it’s great teaching material. When you do a self-passed course, it’s not direct feedback, but it allows you not to get stuck in your own bias of knowns and unknowns. And, let’s be honest Google is still free, and if you want to know some term or approach — you can just google, and what’s really useful — an experience you can learn from other practitioners.
4. Focus on real business challenges — bridging the gap between design and business.
5. Self-paced flexibility (for self-passed format only) — no pressure from fixed deadlines (a game-changer for me).
6. First 3 modules — love them: 4.8 of 5, for me topic of business design is very interesting. I don’t have an MBA, and I don’t think I ever will, but I know that understanding business for product designers is a level-up. For these modules, I've made pages of notes, and checked all of the materials, and even though I was familiar with some of them from 4weekMBA (great resource), seeing them used from actual product perspective was a charm.

What was 50/50

1. Prototyping with numbers — didn’t work for me. I understood the principles, and I’ve completed the assignment, but I’m still not sure how to apply them in real life for my projects. The example they give is pretty straightforward "We have too many support requests, how can we help our support department". But when I’m trying to use the approach for things I work with in my job — it makes little to no sense. And yes, it’s understandable that prototyping with numbers is rather an assumption, but in many of my cases, this sort of assumption is so off, like guessing a number from 1 to 100, you may be right, but in most cases, you’re crazy wrong. Although, I liked the explanations and approach, and playing in Excel.

2. Designing your impact. It's cool for inspiration, and I’m sure for cohort-based type it would be even better, to network and hear other thoughts. But in self-passed, compared to modules 1–3, I got little to no practical skills and was slightly disappointed. Maybe that’s just the type of learner I am (I’m looking for something that can be: learned — tried — and incorporated into the job, rather than more of the podcast-styled inspirational talks).

What could be better

1. The price — cohort-based pricing recently jumped to €7,800, which is steep for an unaccredited course. Though, not judging. If their metrics support this change, and people are still interested, kudos, you need a lot of strength and bravery to set this price tag.
2. No continuous project — a single long-term project across modules would reinforce learning. In my case, after completing all assignments, I did a capstone project on my own.
3. The free blog & newsletter set high expectations — some content felt like a recap rather than new knowledge. What would I recommend? Decrease free resources on the webpage (or increase topics covered in paid courses). Yeah, I said that, balance it out. Someone will hate me for suggesting to decrease free content. And I understand why. While I was not ready to purchase this course, I read every single article on the website and subscribed to the mini MBA newsletter, and I was really happy with what I learned. On the other hand, it set my expectations too high for the content of the paid course. It’s like with an ice cream shop, if you sampled with a tablespoon, and then paid 20 USD for 1–2 balls of ice cream you will be quite disappointed with the amount you got for the price.

Exams & certification

Unlike some courses where you just watch videos and get a certificate, d.MBA requires you to complete assignments in a cohort-based format. Each module ends with a practical challenge based on an actual case or company you may know.

There are no exams, and I think that's for the good, as I would have a hard time answering theoretical questions on this topic, practise with assignments was much better. For completing either course, you’ll receive a certificate — but there’s a twist.

• Cohort-based participants get a unique NFT certificate, created using blockchain technology and generative art.
• Self-paced participants get a simple PDF certificate — still very pretty, but not as exciting.

Check out the style, love it

All credits to d.MBA, just enjoying the art

However, keep in mind: 🚫 This program is unaccredited, so you won’t get any official credentials. 🚫 Even though you can share the certificate on Credly or LinkedIn, don’t expect it to carry the same weight as something from Google or a university.

Would I have loved to get my NFT for self-passed? Absolutely! But this course isn’t about the certificate — it’s about the knowledge. If it doesn’t align with your goals or doesn’t inspire you, don’t waste your resources.

Who should take d.MBA?

Before jumping in, ask yourself:

✔️ Are you looking to level up your business acumen as a designer? ✔️ Do you prefer practical, case-based learning over academic theory? ✔️ Can you invest the time & money needed to fully engage with the content? ✔️ Are you working in product design, UX strategy, or design leadership where business impact matters?

If you answered yes to most of these, d.MBA could be a great fit. If not, you might be better off exploring free or more affordable resources first.

Final Verdict: Would I Recommend It?

Yes, it's a solid 4 out of 5 — but with caveats. For designers serious about bridging the business-design gap, d.MBA offers solid value. But at its current price tag, I recommend:

📌 Carefully evaluate your needs and expectations. 📌 Research alternatives like MBA books, business podcasts, or self-study courses. 📌 Ensuring you have enough time to fully engage — don’t rush through it. 📌 And if you're lucky — look for discounts or Black Friday deals (I saved a lot this way).

Personally, I’m happy with my decision. I learned new things, gained more confidence in business conversations, and applied the insights immediately to my work in my capstone project (nope, it was not a part of the course, I've decided to make my own, to practice).

That’s it, folks!

I’m taking and reviewing more design courses, so if you found this helpful, clap, follow, and stay tuned for more reviews of other courses. 👏

What’s your take on business education for designers? Have you considered d.MBA or taken similar courses? Let’s discuss it!