Candidate handbook
CDTS candidate handbook
Certified Design Thinking Specialist
Everything that applies to the CDTS certification exam: what it covers, how the exam works, how it is scored and where to study.
Blueprint version 1, published on August 25, 2026. Study guide, edition 2026.1.
What the certification attests
For those who run group problem solving: framing the challenge, immersion and synthesis, ideation and co-creation, prototype and testing with the customer.
You run it without a design background
Product, processes, innovation or experience. You were asked to facilitate and need a defensible criterion for deciding when to stop researching, what to prototype and when to close. This is where too much immersion and too little testing does the most damage.
You take part and need to recognise what is happening
Business, legal, operations or technology, called into a session. You need to know what is expected of you at each stage, why criticism is suspended during ideation and why the prototype is not the deliverable.
You sponsor it and answer for the result
You authorised the investment and need to judge whether the work is producing learning or merely activity. You need to know what is due at the end of each stage and which evidence tells a run process apart from a series of meetings.
Prerequisite
None. You can take the certification exam directly.
Certification exam format
- Questions
- 50
- Duration
- 60 min
- Pass mark
- 70%
- Languages
- English, Portuguese, Spanish
The pass mark is fixed: you pass with 70% correct answers, with no curve and no comparison with other candidates.
Domains and weights
Questions are drawn for every certification exam, always in this proportion. The weights are the same the exam engine uses.
| Domain | Questions | Weight | Where to study |
|---|---|---|---|
1. Fundamentals and mindset What holds the approach up before any tool: centring on the user, failing early and cheaply, and the pair diverge and converge as the rhythm of the process. Also the conditions in which it is not the right instrument, and the problem better settled by deciding than by experimenting. | 8 | 16% | Guide CDTS, chapter 4, Foundations and mindset |
2. Framing the challenge Turning a vague request into a workable challenge: separating the problem from the solution that came embedded in the request, bounding the user, agreeing what is known and what is assumed, and stating from the start what would end the work. | 6 | 12% | Guide CDTS, chapter 5, Framing the challenge |
3. Immersion and research Choosing the method by the question to answer, and not by cost or familiarity. Running an interview without leading the answer, telling what the user does apart from what they say they do, and recognising the moment when collecting more stopped adding anything. | 8 | 16% | Guide CDTS, chapter 6, Immersion and research |
4. Synthesis and definition The passage from raw data to a defined problem: turning a volume of notes into a few findings that narrow the solution, building a profile that settles a decision rather than describing demographics, and writing the definition without naming the solution. | 7 | 14% | Guide CDTS, chapter 7, Synthesis and definition |
5. Ideation and co-creation Deliberate generation of alternatives and disciplined convergence: a stated rule and criticism suspended during production, a selection criterion written before seeing the proposals, and recognising when the session produced apparent rather than real variety. | 7 | 14% | Guide CDTS, chapter 8, Ideation and co-creation |
6. Prototyping The minimum representation that answers one doubt: choosing fidelity by the doubt to be resolved and not by the expectations of the audience, prototyping services and processes and not only interfaces, and stating beforehand what the prototype does not represent. | 7 | 14% | Guide CDTS, chapter 9, Prototyping |
7. Testing, decision and implementation Writing the criterion for refutation before the test, including the range that means discarding. Running the session without defending the prototype, telling observed behaviour apart from stated preference, and deciding between iterating, implementing and closing. | 7 | 14% | Guide CDTS, chapter 10, Testing, decision and implementation |
Certification exam rules
- Format
- Online certification exam, in your browser, with no scheduling and no exam centre. Questions describe work situations and ask for a decision. Some ask for more than one option, and the screen tells you how many.
- Time
- The clock runs on the server and starts when you open the certification exam. It does not pause: reloading the page, switching devices or closing the browser does not give time back. When time runs out, the exam is submitted with what you have answered.
- Navigation
- You can go back, change answers and flag questions for review. Before you finish, a screen shows what is answered, flagged and blank.
- Scoring
- Your score is compared with the pass mark, with no curve. A blank question counts as wrong, and multiple-answer questions get no partial credit.
- Result
- Immediate, with your score for each domain. It is kept in your account and does not appear on the certificate or the public profile.
- Voucher
- Each voucher is worth one attempt and is used when the certification exam is opened. A voucher bought on the site never expires. Whoever types the code takes the exam, so treat the code like a ticket.
- New attempt
- There is no waiting period and no limit. Each attempt uses a voucher, and questions are drawn again. If you do not pass, you get a 50% coupon for the same certification, valid for 90 days.
- Refund
- Within 14 days of purchase, if the voucher has not been used, through the same payment method.
- Technical problem
- Come back through the same address: the certification exam resumes with the same questions and the answers already saved. If a platform failure compromises your exam, a new attempt is released at no cost.
- Credential
- Issued when you pass, with a public verification code. It never expires and has no renewal or annual fee.
- Revocation
- A credential can be revoked for fraud, disclosure of questions, false identity, misleading use or administrative error. The code remains searchable and shows the revocation.
- Integrity
- The certification exam is individual and closed book, including artificial intelligence assistants. There is no camera, microphone or screen recording. Signals such as time per question and loss of window focus lead to human review, and no signal fails anyone on its own.
- Accessibility
- The certification exam screen works with keyboard and screen reader. Extended time of 25% or 50% is requested at checkout or in the account, in Certification exams, before using the voucher. For another adjustment, write to [email protected].
Where to study
The official guide indicates 35 to 45 hours of study, in paths of 8 or 4 weeks (appendix D of the guide).
Short on time? Study by weight: the domains below are in the order of how much they count in the certification exam.
- Fundamentals and mindset (16%)
- Immersion and research (16%)
- Synthesis and definition (14%)
- Ideation and co-creation (14%)
- Prototyping (14%)
- Testing, decision and implementation (14%)
- Framing the challenge (12%)