1
Odyssey Works has been working in experience design since before the term existed — building audience-specific, one-of-one theatrical experiences across two decades before formalizing the practice into a teachable methodology. This isn't UX, and it isn't service design. It's the total architecture of what someone thinks, feels, and remembers.
FOR DESIGNERS
You already design how people feel. You just haven't named it yet.
Odyssey Works trains designers to do it on purpose. A 10-month certificate program from the team that's been defining experience design for 25 years. Next info session July 8th.
WHAT THIS IS
We are to experience design what IDEO is to design thinking.
02
Abraham Burickson's book on experience design, published by Yale University Press, is the field's primary text. OW has consulted for Nike, Apple, Google, Meow Wolf, MILA, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. The comparison to IDEO isn't positioning — it's history.
WHO's DONE THIS
Designers leave with work that matters and careers that change.
Sara Behbakht
EDCP Alum · IDEO
Sara came to Odyssey Works as a working designer looking for a framework that named what she was already trying to do. She left with a body of portfolio work, a vocabulary for her practice, and a community of designers building careers around the same instinct. She's a designer at IDEO3 — putting an Odyssey Works graduate inside the firm we're often measured against.
Tyler Jones
EDCP Alum • 1504
Tyler's project, In Solidarity: The Beth El Civil Rights Experience, is now a permanent installation covered by The New York Times. His narrative design agency, 1504.co, designs installations and experiences for a wide range of impact experience design clients in the US and abroad.
Melissa Carine
EDCP ALUM • California Academy of Art
Promoted at California Academy of Art and credits the program directly. She is now empowered to translate the museum's education and curatorial practices through the lens of experience design.
Yvette Hatton
EDCP Alum · Wells Fargo
Applies experience design daily at Wells Fargo, where she works at the intersection of education and finance, helping design experiences that transform the relationship between young people and money.
03
IDEO pioneered design thinking - the process-oriented approach now taught in every design school and embedded in most major innovation teams. A gcaduate working at IDEO signals that the Odyssey Works fcamewock is competitive at the highest level of the discipline - and that it translates into jobs.
Who You'll LEARN FROM
STUDY WITH THE PEOPLE
DEFINING THE FIELD.
Co-founded Odyssey Works 25 years ago. Wrote the Yale University Press book on experience design.
Narrative-driven experience designer. Past collaborators: Mailchimp, Tribeca, Virgin Voyages, Audubon Society.
Senior Lecturer at University of the Arts London. Co-founder of Dome Collective. Previously led experience design at SYPartners and Local Projects.
NYC-based interactive installation artist. Known for crafting disarmingly playful experiences that explore human connection, social dynamics, and shared interactions through site-specific public artworks, games, and participatory design.
THE DETAILS
10 MONTHS
10 HOURS / WEEK
10-15 STUDENTS / COHORT
One-On-One Mentorship
Weekly Classes in Small Groups
Career & Personal Transformation
Students will take a weekly course online and receive MENTORSHIP from our instructors. The program will be bookended by in-person weekend intensives. Students will leave the program with two COMPLETED portfolio projects.
Retreat 1
Jan 29 - 31, 2027
USA
Session 1
Feb 2 - May 12, 2027
Weekly Classes Online
Students will be sorted into one of two cohorts that meet the same day every week and are assigned upon acceptance. You may note on your application if you are unavailable for one of the slots. One cohort will meet Tuesdays 2-5 pm EST, the other cohort will meet Wednesdays from 12-3 EST (New York Time)
In-Person Session
Variable Dates
In-Person Session
Students are required to attend one other in-person session. This may include weekend intensives, the family reunion, the WXO Summit, or a self-organized session with other students.
Research session
June - august
Lived Research Session
Self-directed, with weekly accountability group meetings in June and July.
Session 2
September - November
Weekly Classes Online
One cohort will meet Tuesdays 2-5 pm EST, the other cohort will meet Wednesdays from 12-3 EST (New York Time).
New Frame Presentation & Graduation
Nov 19-22, 2027
New York City
Final projects will be presented to a ticketed public in New York City. Certificates awarded.
Payment Plans
Tuition
Full Tuition $11,900 Total
INCLUDES books and a materials. Students are also responsible for their own travel and accommodations for the weekend intensives. No Installment Fees.
Installment Plan
$3,350 Per Installment
Divide tuition into THREE payments throughout the program. $3,350 per installment (includes a $50 installment fee), plus a $2,000 deposit. Students are responsible for their own travel and accommodations for the weekend intensives. Includes Books and Program Materials.
MONTHLY PAYMENT PLAN
$1,015/MONTH
Includes books and Program Materials. Students are responsible for their own travel and accommodations for the weekend intensives, plus a $2,000 deposit. Monthly Payments include a $25 installment fee.
EU/UK
*Many countries in the EU offer sponsorship for arts related education programs. Applicants are encouraged to apply for arts funding if their country offers it. Students have received support from UK Arts Funding and the Canada Council for the Arts.
4
We happily write letters of support for all students who ask that are seeking funding from foundations, institutions, and their employers.
Financial Aid & Scholarships
Thanks to a generous donor we are offering three full-tuition SCHOLARSHIPS to BIPOC applicants. We are also proud to offer three half-tuition, need-based scholarship, and three half-tuition work study scholarships. All of these are extremely COMPETITIVE and we encourage you to seek additional sources of funding4. You will be able to INDICATE your interest in being considered for both forms of scholarship in your application. If you’d like to be considered for need-based assistance, there is a BRIEF additional form for you to complete.
Students receiving full scholarships will need to pay a refundable $1,500 scholarship, which will be returned upon successful completion of the program.
FOR ORGANIZATIONS
Work for a company or institution that has funds for continuing your education or professional development? Odyssey Works partners with organizational leadership to support employees in this program. Numerous alumni who worked at places like Nike, IDEO, and McCann World Group, or at academic institutions, have received full or partial funding from their employers for our programs. Get the conversation started by sending your employer to this page today and feel free to contact us for further information.
