Ace the Design Challenge: Take an idea to prototype in 6 weeks

Want to be a designer in a tech startup? Already at a tech company and looking to level up your design skills?

Designers need to expand their skillset to meet the rapid pace and creative needs of growing startups. To get hired, designers are expected to show a process that includes strategic thinking, user testing, rapid prototyping and iteration, in addition to traditional graphic design skills. We want to help you get there.

In our 6-week, Ace the Design Challenge course, you will take a concept from idea to prototype and sharpen your skills along the way. You'll work alongside other designers in a creative environment that allows for growth through practice and feedback from our experienced design instructors.

What you’ll learn:

You’ll learn how to go from a project brief to a tested prototype, doing user research, rapid prototyping and iteration, holistic design, and assembling all the important pieces for a product designer portfolio.

You'll be able to use the creative process and best practices acquired in this course and apply it to Design Challenges commonly issued by tech companies in their interview process.

Students will leave this foundations class with one tested prototype they can add to their portfolio and a case study presenting their process from start to finish.

View a sample lesson:
https://www.youtube.com/v/4l4JQDOE1eA

Course Curriculum:

• Pre-lessons: Product designer expectations; Getting started with Sketch; Working with teams in Slack

• Week 1: The modern creative process; Project briefings; Customer development

• Week 2: Rapid prototyping, user testing, and quick iterations

• Week 3: High-fidelity prototyping; UI design

• Week 4: Information Architecture, heuristics, wireframing

• Week 5: Putting it all together; how to showcase your work

• Week 6: Final presentations

View our syllabus for more curriculum details

Who this class is for:

This class is ideal for SF Bay Area designers in related fields who want to get into the tech industry as a product designer. It's also suited for designers in tech looking to grow their product design skill sets. We will focus on translating your existing design skills to designing delightful and viable mobile apps and data products. The class is also set up to help you follow and learn the creative process you'll need to be successful in a fast-paced tech company.

This class is great for people who already have a full-time job, and are willing to put in some time in the evenings and weekends to learn new skills.

Our part-time course is designed for you if:

• You already have a background in graphic design or a related field

• You have a design portfolio online

• You have a laptop, ideally a Mac

• You are able to attend in-person classes in San Francisco

• You are able to spend at least 8 hours a week outside of work on a class project (4 hours a week in class, at least 4 hours a week outside of class)

• You are willing and able to interact with people you don’t know in person to practice doing user research for your class project

Class format:

• Tuesday & Thursday evenings, 6:30pm to 8:30pm

• Class will meet twice weekly for 6 weeks starting November 1, 2016. (we'll skip Thanksgiving)

• Lessons and homework will be delivered before each session, giving you time to work at your own pace at home. We will use the time we are in session to critique, give feedback, and collaborate on projects rather than lecture.

• Instructor will be available for 1:1 feedback and questions for ½ hour after each session.

• You should expect to spend at least 4 hours per week outside of class working on your prototype, doing user research, and creating your final presentation.

• Students will be encouraged to collaborate in a Slack team during the class, where you can ask questions and get feedback from other students and the instructors between sessions.

• You will put together a final case study and present your work to the class on December 15, gaining valuable presentation skills and feedback for showcasing your work in your portfolio.

Instructor:

Sarah Harrison is a creative facilitator and meditation instructor with a background leading UX design and product management at startups like TaskRabbit & True&Co. She’s now an independent consultant working to empower people to put their creative work into the world.

Refund policy:

If you need to cancel your registration, notify us by emailing vivian@whitespacecrew.com at least 30 days prior to the course and we will refund your full payment. Less than 30 days prior to the course, there are no refunds available.