In 2023, I curated, developed, and co-led the Intro to Product Design online course, a hands-on learning experience designed for individuals looking to transition into product design or strengthen their foundational knowledge in UX and product design. Over the course of the year, I mentored more than 40 students across three cohorts, providing them with practical skills, industry insights, and personalised feedback to support their growth into confident product designers.
My primary role in this project was to design the entire curriculum from the ground up. I structured the course into six core sessions, which were delivered over six weeks through live, interactive classes lasting 2 to 2.5 hours each. To support students’ learning between sessions, I also facilitated mid-week check-ins and provided guidance on home exercises. The teaching was a collaborative effort, with another experienced designer leading three of the sessions, while I delivered the remaining three. In addition to the live sessions, I offered mentoring and feedback throughout the cohorts, ensuring students had a clear path to apply their learning in real-world contexts.
One of the sessions I led focused on user research and UX audits. In this session, I guided students through the importance of aligning business objectives with customer needs by leveraging research. I introduced a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including user interviews, diary studies, ethnographic research, and survey design. We explored practical ways to gather insights, avoid common research pitfalls, and how to form useful assumptions. A key part of the session was teaching students how to rephrase leading questions to encourage more authentic responses in interviews. I also ran a live workshop where students learned to evaluate onboarding funnels and conduct UX audits using design principles such as Hick’s Law, the Von Restorff Effect, and the Serial Position Effect. These hands-on activities helped students understand how to identify usability issues and suggest practical improvements.
Another session I led concentrated on creating user personas, defining Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), and mapping user flows. I explained how personas serve as essential tools in product design by representing the needs and motivations of key user segments. Through collaborative exercises, students practiced affinity mapping, grouping qualitative data from interviews to identify common traits and define personas. Building on this, I introduced the concept of MVPs and showed how product teams can prioritise features to maximise learning with minimal effort. We also worked through user flow exercises, where students created step-by-step journey maps for digital products, applying their research insights to ensure user needs were fully considered. Techniques like Crazy 8s sketching and wireframing were incorporated to encourage rapid ideation and exploration of design solutions.
Throughout the course, I emphasised the connection between design decisions and business goals. By introducing frameworks like Pirate Metrics (AARRR: Acquisition, Activation, Revenue, Retention, Referral), I helped students understand how to measure the success of their designs and how product design impacts key business metrics.
Feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive. One participant shared, "The course was very engaging and I enjoyed learning about Product Design. I already had past knowledge about UX but this course helped plug in the gaps and made me a stronger UX/Product Designer. The teachers were very good at explaining all the different elements and were very approachable. It’s a great course." This sentiment was echoed by many, reflecting the practical and approachable nature of the learning experience.
In addition to the Intro to Product Design course, I also delivered standalone workshops for General Assembly, sharing my expertise with wider professional audiences. These sessions allowed me to further hone my facilitation skills and contribute to the growth of aspiring designers outside of the cohort-based format.
Overall, this project allowed me to combine my passion for product design with my experience in mentoring and teaching. Curating and delivering this course not only helped students transition into the field but also strengthened my own ability to communicate complex design concepts in an accessible and engaging way.