March 29th, 2015

What I didn’t learn in design school

Recently, there was a thread on Designer News where the community was discussing the important skills and ideas that aren’t taught in design school. This is what I came up with:

  1. Design is about people, not about craft.

  2. The field of design is moving too fast for professors to keep up. Their advice is 10-20 years out of date.

  3. Tenacity, persuasiveness, humility, iteration and luck are more important to success than getting straight As or having a nice portfolio.

  4. The ability to succinctly express your ideas, cultivate relationships with people, and help others achieve their goals is more important than understanding the nuances of various design theories.