Product Design Essentials

Product Design Essentials

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Explore the essentials of design, accessibility, and inclusive design while mastering industry-standard tools like Figma. These courses will lay the groundwork for creating user-focused, visually appealing designs.

$2,700.00 USD

$3,000.00 USD
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

Financing and flexible payment options available. Learn more

Next Cohort Date

January 6, 2025
December 2, 2024

Program Features

Qualification

Certificate

Duration

9 weeks

Commitment

20 hours weekly

Skill Level

Beginner

Delivery

Weekly instruction, feedback and support

Start Date

First Monday of each month

Led By

Expert instructors with industry experience

Features

Flexible schedules and small class sizes

Value

Affordable high quality education

The world needs good designers

Begin your journey into the world of product design by mastering the foundational skills that every designer needs.

This program will introduce you to industry-standard tools like Figma, while teaching you the core principles of accessibility and inclusive design. You’ll explore the basics of visual design, including typography, color theory, and layout, and learn how to apply these elements to create user-centered designs. By the end of these courses, you’ll have the skills to develop thoughtful, aesthetically pleasing designs that not only look great but also serve real user needs. This is your starting point for a successful career in product design.

The SMU x Flatiron School difference: 

  • Learn to design digital products with no previous experience
  • Gain confidence using industry-standard software
  • Be mentored by an experienced product designer
  • Small group classes (max 5 students)

Prerequisites: No prior experience required. These courses are designed for beginners.

After completing the program, you have the option to continue your journey with Product Design Foundations I: User Experience.

Curriculum 

Industry-approved curriculum to help launch your career as a product designer

Introduction to Design Techniques  - 3 weeks

This course covers the fundamentals of design, using Figma to build your skills. You'll learn visual design basics, create layouts, add typography and color, and build interactive prototypes. The course concludes with a project where you develop your own design, apply feedback, and use design methodologies and project management frameworks to prepare for a product design career.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Compare user research (UR), user experience (UX), and user interface (UI) as elements of the product design skill set
  • Implement fundamental designs with industry standard tools like Figma
  • Apply product design frameworks to a design project

Introduction to Responsible Design - 3 weeks

This course teaches you to integrate responsible design methods into your projects, focusing on ethical, inclusive, and accessible solutions. You'll explore product design pillars, common methodologies, and the product life cycle, emphasizing iteration and user-centered design. The course concludes with a project where you'll assess the ethical impacts of a product solution and make recommendations. You'll gain skills to critically examine product choices and contribute responsibly to a design team.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Utilize frameworks and approaches for solving design problems while balancing user and business needs
  • Implement foundational methodologies and techniques to creating ethical, inclusive, and accessible products
  • Apply foundational design principles

Integrating Art and Visual Design  - 3 weeks

This course focuses on visual design for product development, covering principles of visual hierarchy, composition, color, typography, imagery, and layout grids. You'll learn to create balanced, informative designs for web and mobile interfaces. The course concludes with a project where you'll apply your knowledge to develop a user-friendly layout based on user and business goals, incorporating accessible, industry-standard practices.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Apply visual principles to improve a design layout
  • Integrate accessible and inclusive visual design choices 
  • Demonstrate the ability to balance responsible design methodologies with user and business goals in design solutions

Tuition

Flexible small group classes are the best way to learn from top industry mentors in a fun, collaborative environment, while still getting plenty of personalized feedback.

Upfront

$2,700

Pay as You Go

$3,000

3 monthly payments of $1,000

Course Mentors

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Full Name

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Product Design Essentials FAQs

Learn more

Can I use my military benefits to apply to your programs?

Our programs are not currently set up to accept military benefits, such as the GI Bill, as a form of payment directly from the student at this time. However, if your military benefits can be arranged to pay the school directly, this may be an option in rare cases.

Do I need a college degree to enroll in your programs?

No, you do not need a college degree to enroll in our programs. A high school diploma or GED is the only educational requirement. Our programs are designed to be accessible to a wide range of students with diverse backgrounds.

Can I use FAFSA or financial aid to pay for your programs?

No, we do not accept FAFSA or traditional financial aid for our programs. However, we do offer loans for full-time students, as well as interest-free installment plans and upfront payment options for everyone else. Please contact us for more details about these flexible payment options.

Will I earn a certificate or some other credential when I complete the Essentials program?

Yes! Upon the completion of each program in the pathway, you will receive a Credly digital badge from SMU and a certificate from Flatiron School. Digital badges can be used in email signatures or digital resumes, and certificates can be displayed on portfolio websites and social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Thousands of our community members use their program certificates and badges to demonstrate skills to potential employers — including our hiring partners — along with their LinkedIn networks. Our curriculum is powered by Flatiron School, whose programs are well-regarded by many top employers, who contribute to our curriculum, hire our community, and partner with us to train their own teams.

Do I need prior experience to enroll in the Essentials program?

Nope! This program is designed for complete beginners - no experience required.

Can I skip the intro program and go directly to the Foundations program?

It is VERY occasionally possible to skip the essentials program and go directly to Foundations I. However, we highly recommend that most students do not skip Essentials as it covers a tremendous amount of information and skills that will be used throughout the entire career pathway program and will require some catching up if skipped.

The essentials program is still difficult and covers a ton of material that is necessary for proceeding in the following programs and won't be reviewed in  Foundations. All of the future program material will build upon the essentials.

If you would like to be considered to enter directly into the Foundations-level programs, you'll be required to submit materials demonstrating your proficiency in the materials covered in the Essentials program.

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Whether you want to build games, design products, prevent the next cyber attack, or create the next internet-breaking AI, we provide the training to bring your ideas to life.

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