So much has changed in design and tech lately. Mass layoffs, AI/the economy posing existential questions, evolving expectations from Leadership, new interfaces such as AR/VR becoming more mainstream..
So, what should product design education look like going forward?
A bit of context. I run ownpath, where we've been helping designers and teams such as Gojek and Freshworks upskill through our Academy. We host a Design Collective where we work with startups and enterprises such as Hero Motocorp, L&T, and more to meet their design requirements across a variety of models.
We also regularly host design/product leaders at community events and podcasts. (The picture is from last week's fireside with Anjana, a staff content strategist at Spotify.)
So, we're fairly tuned into how business requirements are evolving, how design/product leaders are expecting their teams to adapt, and where designers are seeing challenges.
What's clear to us: the more strategic and problem-solving aspects of design are becoming more important. Showing good taste and judgement to make sure design decisions are being made that serve users, the business, the brand, and society is becoming crucial.
Effective collab with Product, Engg, and Leadership and facilitating great user experiences is taking centre stage (design should not just be a service function!). Articulating one's thinking clearly is not only important with stakeholders but with AI as well, that's essentially what prompt engineering is, isn't it?
So, we took everything we learned over the past 4 years and went back to the drawing board. We re-designed the Product Design Fellowship program to reflect this vision on how Design is evolving.
Some key updates:
- The Fellowship is now personalised according to the designer's needs and goals. You can choose to skim modules you already feel confident with, and deep dive into modules you want to strengthen your foundation in
- Heavy emphasis on not only making sure designers are capable of high-quality craft, but are also good at understanding users deeply, identifying what problems to solve, working effectively in teams, and developing a taste for what great design looks like. We've also included Generative AI for Designers and Spatial Design to help designers become future-ready
- We're doubling down on industry projects and part-time opportunities so designers can apply what they're learning in real-world settings, and earn from these opportunities too
- We're evolving our placement process with guides, personalised portfolio reviews, and a dedicated coordinator to help Fellows stand out and unlock amazing opportunities
Huge thanks to all the mentors and instructors for contributing to and making this vision possible.
Take a look at the curriculum and see for yourself if it can benefit you or someone you know. We’ve made it fully accessible, and we’re always open to thoughts & feedback!
Link in the comments.
#designeducation #productdesign #uxdesign
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