Despite increasing rate of diabetes, no standard self-management education protocol has been developed in Iran. We used "Intervention Mapping," as an innovative process of designing structured program intervention for designing Farsi diabetes self-management education (FDSME) program. The program was built on existing theories, empirical evidence, and findings from both qualitative and quantitative research with the target population. The effectiveness of FDSME program was assessed on psychosocial and lifestyle outcomes in newly diagnosed people with type 2 diabetes and those who had received little self-management education. The FDSME program was effective in improving diabetes cognitive outcomes within eight weeks. The results also support the use of Intervention Mapping for planning effective interventions.