Absolute beginners’ guide to learn Product Design
What to do when you cannot get into a design school
Attending a design school like Stanford Design School is the best way to study product design. However d.school is not an option for most of us who are either, at a career stage that restricts you from attending, or the closest school is a few thousand kilometres away. Meanwhile, Design Thinking and Product Design is becoming a mandatory skillset (or at least complementary) for many professionals.
Like many beginners, it is natural to start learning Product Design from mostly available sources differing from articles on the Internet to courses provided by various vendors. However, one of the pitfalls of this approach is that the knowledge organisation and viewpoints of different experts in the area are confusing.
As a mentor to numerous starting professionals who comes from various backgrounds, I have been asked for resources as well as guidance to organise the knowledge they have on the subject.
This post aims to enlist a simple learning path I have figured out based on my personal experience as well as mentoring encounters.
Step 1: Start with the good old-fashioned industrial design.
Industrial Product Design is the base for contemporary product design approaches such as Design Thinking, Human-Centered Design, and even Design Sprints. Besides, as a budding product designer, its’ waterfall content arrangement helps you to understand the fundamental knowledge areas in a consumable manner. Unfortunately, there are not many online or easy to follow material on Industrial Product Design.
Luckily, TU Delft: Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering’s Delft Design Approach is the only online program available to learn Industrial Design. The course is available on MOOC platform EDX for free and the verified course at a reasonable fee.
Step 2: d.school crash course in Design Thinking
Once you are familiar with the basics of Industrial Product Design, you are in a better position to follow the d.schools workshop. By now, you have already gained an understanding of the underline context of each activity in the Stanford workshop. Further, this will help you to appreciate the advancements proposed by thinkers at d.school.
Step 3: Follow IDEO.org Human-Centered Design Course
Followed by Stanford Design Thinking, You are ready to get into the IDEO’s Human-Centered Design material. IDEO’s HCD describes what you have learned from d.school in a little bit more detail with more additional applications related design for social change.
Step 4: Read the Sprint Book
The Sprint Book provides a framework that allows you to practice modern design with less experienced designers in a brief period. As you have already followed background material that leads to the creation of Sprint book, it allows to you understand the underline concepts and why Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, and Braden Kowitz wanted to replace each technique in traditional or modern product design with simple and easy to practice techniques.
Step 5: (Phase 2 of learning) Read more
When you have reached this milestone, you are ready to follow any short courses by IDEO, as well as advanced material on Medium.
