1. Four Vectors of Design Learning

a) Thinking, Doing, Articulation (Metaskills Vector)

"One vector is about thinking, doing, articulation, how you think, what you do and how you talk about what you have thought and done. So this is one vector. I call it as a metaskills vector because this is a metaskill which is needed for any profession."

b) Mindset, Skillset, Toolset (Competencies Vector)

The other vector is the mindset and the skill set and the tool set which is all the competencies. So if you look at that vector, it is very interesting. It's a very skewed vector. Your mindset carries 80% of weightage and your skill set is only 15%, tool set is only 5% and here we are talking about that 5% as if it is the entire world.

c) Career Stages

The third vector that I can think of is the stages of your career. you are a beginner, the way you look at design field is completely different from somebody who is becoming a lead interface designer or a principal designer, a principal product designer which is completely different from when you are moving from a IC path into a managerial path.

d) Competency Types

The fourth vector I think which is a very important vector for a designer is to understand that there are competencies which are core competencies, there are auxiliary competencies and there are career competencies and these three competencies are completely different from how we will be able to look at it.

2. Curriculum Structure

a) Foundation

"The foundation will include human nature, it will include your designer mindsets, it will include your design principles because principles don't change."

b) Core Competencies

And then comes your core competencies around need finding, inciting, value proposition, design strategy, user interface design, design systems and then comes your core competencies of your Figma.

c) Auxiliary Competencies ("Soft Skills")

Then comes your auxiliary competencies. I mean this is what is called a soft skills, they are not so soft at all. Because how you document, how you communicate, how you collaborate, how you coordinate, how you cooperate, all of these things matter in your, because that is what gives you promotion in many, many ways.

d) Career Competencies

If you look at your career competencies, then there are career competencies for an IC, there are career competencies for a manager, and there are career competencies for a leader. And all three are very, very different, and that is supremely important.

e) Specializations

And then comes all your specializations. A lot of people seem to be very obsessed with specializations. I'm a motion designer. Well, just as a motion designer, you don't do much, in all honesty. And I'm not belittling specializations, but what I'm saying is, when you are a full-stack product designer, this is just a small part.

3. Learning Approach

"As a beginner, I told you, you must know human nature. Even if you skip UXR, UX value proposition strategy, UX mapping, and all that good stuff, be better with your Ul and Figma. Even if you are not great with other parts of it, at least be better with the UI and Figma, you will do wonders. And for each aspect, don't go more than like two or three books because trust me, you'll not read all of them. And we don't even have that many books which give you all this goodness."