AI-powered Behavioral Design Sprint

3 Weeks

Cohort-based Course

Master GenAI-powered human-centered design process using the Make it Toolkit for behavioral-informed product and service design.

AI-powered Behavioral Design Sprint

3 Weeks

Cohort-based Course

Master GenAI-powered human-centered design process using the Make it Toolkit for behavioral-informed product and service design.

Hosted by

John Gusiff and Mahnaz Hajesmaeili

Together bring extensive CX/UX experience leveraging GenAI in the Design Process

John Gusiff and Mahnaz Hajesmaeili

Together bring extensive CX/UX experience leveraging GenAI in the Design Process

Consulted at

Course overview

Apply Behavioral Science to the Design Sprint process using the Make it Toolkit

✨ Course Overview

Apply Behavioral Science to Your Design Sprints with the Make It Toolkit

Most design sprints focus on features. This course goes deeper 🔍.

You’ll learn a proven step-by-step process for running a Behavioral Design Sprint—combining behavioral science 🧠 with the Make It Toolkit 🛠️ and GenAI-powered methods 🤖 (always with Human in the Loop 👤).

By the end, you’ll know how to:

🎯 Translate business challenges into behavioral challenge statements

🗺️ Map user journeys through the lens of the Five Laws of Behavior

🧩 Spot and prioritize hidden barriers to progress

💡 Generate behavioral design interventions that actually change behavior

📐 Prototype solution concepts through sketches, storyboards, journey maps, and simple mockups — turning ideas into tangible, testable outputs

You’ll work on real case studies (🏥 healthcare, 🎓 education, 💰 financial services) so you can practice applying these tools in contexts that matter.

⚡ This isn’t theory. It’s a hands-on, case study–driven experience designed to help you uncover hidden barriers, generate stronger solutions, and leave with validated hypotheses ready for prototyping.

👉 Reserve Your Spot Today – Limited Seats Available

Who is this course for

Design Sprint facilitators looking to better align teams on more focused customer outcomes via a behavioral challenge statement.

Product managers wanting to make sure the products and services they design are behavioral informed and more likely to succeed.

Designers wanting to have better context around the users they are designing for and the specific behaviors that need to be influenced.

Design Sprint facilitators looking to better align teams on more focused customer outcomes via a behavioral challenge statement.

Product managers wanting to make sure the products and services they design are behavioral informed and more likely to succeed.

Designers wanting to have better context around the users they are designing for and the specific behaviors that need to be influenced.

Behavioral scientists seeking to better integrate applied behavioral science into the design process.

HR or L&D professional seeking to improve employee engagement or design better employee experiences.

CX Journey Manager seeking new ways to improve overall customer journeys and experiential outcomes.

Together, aligning a team around a set of behavioral design hypothesis to influence customer decision making & progress moving forward.

What you’ll learn as part of this course:

Frame Behavioral Challenges Clearly

📝 Turn vague business problems into sharp behavioral challenge statements

🎯 Define target behaviors to encourage or discourage with precision

Map & Diagnose the Behavioral Journey

🗺️ Apply the Five Laws of Behavior to uncover friction and hidden barriers

🔎 Use journey mapping to see where users struggle—and where they succeed

Generate Evidence-Based Interventions

💡 Apply 15 proven Make It strategies and 300+ tactics to brainstorm ideas

⚖️ Evaluate and refine interventions by spotting trade-offs and combinations

Formulate Behavioral Design Hypotheses

📊 Craft hypotheses that link design decisions to measurable outcomes

Prototype Solution Concepts

📐 Visualize your ideas with sketches, storyboards, journey maps, or simple mockups

🎨 Turn abstract ideas into tangible, testable outputs ready for iteration

Apply GenAI-Powered Methods with Human Oversight

🤖 Learn where GenAI accelerates ideation—and where human judgment matters

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Gain confidence in applying AI responsibly in design workflows

What’s included

Live sessions

Learn directly from John Gusiff & Mahnaz Hajesmaeili in a real-time, interactive format.

Lifetime access

Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.

Community of peers

Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.

Certificate of completion

Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.

Maven Guarantee

This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.

Course syllabus

5 live sessions • 41 lessons

Week 1

Jan 13—Jan 18

Jan

Session 1: The Behavioral Design Sprint (Formulating Challenge Statement)

Tue 1/137:00 PM—9:00 PM (UTC)

Make It Toolkit Behavioral Design Sprint

1 item

The Behavioral Challenge Statement

1 item

The Make it Toolkit (An Overview)

1 item

The Five Laws of Behavior

2 items

Key Differences between Traditional and Behavioral Journey Mapping

1 item

Overview of Case Studies (Select One)

4 items

Five Core Components of a Behavioral Journey Map

1 item

User Task Analysis for Behavioral Design

2 items

Group Exercise: Behavioral Journey Mapping and User Task Analysis

1 item

Identifying Prompts (Internal and External)

1 item

Group Exercise: Identifying Prompts associated with the Behavioral Journey

1 item

Jan

Session 2: Map the Behavioral User Journey (Prioritized Opportunity Points)

Thu 1/157:00 PM—9:00 PM (UTC)

Consequences of Behavior

1 item

Group Exercise: Identifying Consequences associated with the Behavioral Journey

1 item

Make it Toolkit Barriers to Progress

2 items

Group Exercise: Identifying Barriers associated with the Behavioral Journey

1 item

Opportunity Points

1 item

Group Exercise: Identify Opportunity Points for Design Interventions

1 item

RICE Prioritization of Opportunity Points

1 item

Group Exercise: RICE Prioritization of Opportunity Points

1 item

Homework Assignment: Behavioral Strategy Canvas

1 item

Week 2

Jan 19—Jan 25

Jan

Session 3: Brainstorm Ideas and Design Interventions (Behavioral Design Hypothesis)

Mon 1/197:00 PM—9:00 PM (UTC)

Make It Toolkit 15 Core Strategies

1 item

Group Exercise: Ideation leveraging the 15 core Make It Strategies

1 item

Group Discussion: Removing Layers of the Behavioral Journey Map

1 item

Combos and Tradeoffs Process for Idea Refinement

1 item

The Behavioral Design Hypothesis

1 item

Group Exercise Formulate Behavioral Design Hypothesis

1 item

Jan

Session 4: Sketch Solution Concepts and Visualize Experiences

Wed 1/217:00 PM—9:00 PM (UTC)

Overview of Design Methods and Fidelity

2 items

Solution Concept Sketching

1 item

Storyboarding and Journey Mapping

1 item

GenAI Prototyping of Solution Concepts

1 item

Reflecting on your Behavioral Design Hypothesis

1 item

Week 3

Jan 26—Jan 27

Jan

Session 5: Recap of Behavioral Journey Mapping and Group Shareouts

Tue 1/277:00 PM—9:00 PM (UTC)

Recap of Make it Toolkit Behavioral Design Solutioning

1 item

Group Shareouts of Showcase Projects from Case Studies

1 item

Additional Opportunities to Continue your Behavioral Designer Journey

1 item

What students are saying

Meet your Maven instructors

John Gusiff

John Gusiff is the Managing Partner for Customer Centric Solutions LLC.

He is a makeit toolkit Certified Instructor for Behavioral Design.

He is passionate about improving the lives of customers via human-centered design and design thinking methods. He leverages customer jobs-to-be-done (jtbd) insights research along with applied behavioral science when consulting with his clients.

He has worked directly with executives in marketing, sales, product development, customer service and support functions to help them rethink how they better service their customers and implement the processes, organization, and technology to support it.

Clients have included: American Honda, Canada Goose, Citibank, Ecobee, G Adventures, Gympass, Humana, Porch, lululemon, Royal Ambulance, Shaklee, and TransAlta.

Mahnaz Hajesmaeili

Mahnaz Hajesmaeili is a strategic AI/UX/Product Designer with a Master’s in Media Design and Human-Computer Interaction, blending empathy, curiosity, and data-driven insights to create impactful, user-centric solutions. Skilled in generative AI integration, prototyping, and inclusive design, she excels at crafting designs that deliver measurable value and operational efficiency.

As co-instructor of the Maven course on GenAI-powered Experience Design leveraging the Make It Toolkit, Mahnaz applies her expertise to teach participants how to design, prototype, and validate behavioral science-informed AI-driven solutions.

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