IS PRODUCT DESIGN UNIVERSITY WORTH IT? (+ UDACITY TOUR) - AJ&Smart VLOG

[@AJSmart]

Did you go to college to learn about design?

[@meleecraft]

I did, on and off for 4 years, then i eventually quit altogether. I gained enough experience in the "real world" and university just became "slow" and a money pit

[@AJSmart]

@@meleecraft You happy you made that decision now?

[@meleecraft]

@@AJSmart I am. University wasn't useless, i made connections and learned a few basic things. At the moment i cound't be happier with how my Designer career is going :)

[@DallasDesignSprints]

Nope! I went to college for studio art (I was a sculptor/painter/pencil artist) and left as a DJ/production/promotions person. I stumbled into design by accident/proxy. :)

[@PhilipWatson1]

I fucking loved doing product design at uni. Such a good time, so many interesting ideas, loads of toys to play with, really challenging projects, and great great people all at the same stage of their lives, going on this journey together. Best £30k I ever spent. 10/10, would study again 👍

[@ChrisFederer]

Outdated is a great point! I had an architecture professor come into my coworking space to ask us questions the other day because he was just now finding out about them.

[@Calumrussell88]

Great insights! University / College can be great for developing as a person in many different ways, but I think, particularly in the creative industries, you can save yourself a lot of time and money by self-teaching through video tutorials, books, online courses, meetups, internships etc.

[@AJSmart]

YESSIRRRRRRRR

[@KhevinMituti]

Fan from Brazil here!

[@AJSmart]

Wohoooo welcome :DDD

[@jakemartins7883]

Its not necessary to go to university to learn the skills but things like professional criticism and connections to industry are significantly harder to get if you are not in the circles of university, unless you get an opportunity to intern somewhere.

[@jacopoalbe]

I made product design at bachelor degree to then change to communication design for my master degree (in Italy I paid around 1-1,5 K per year, so not as much as USA or UK). I think the university could be useful to who has still to figure out what she/he wants to do (like it was in my case). To me, it took all university to find out what was my passion but I think that (as suggested to Jacob) if you find out what you like to do, you can/should invest the money of university into learning and improving skills for that specific area or to survive while making an internship in the job that you love. This way you will gain much more experience and confidence.

[@jacopoalbe]

@gypsyco lab Politecnico di Milano

[@jessicabenevides5087]

Another Brazilian fan here!

[@sithumlahiruu]

I am a self-taught Freelance product designer with 2 years of experience and i live in a rural area of Sri Lanka which i end up explaining what i do as "I'm just a graphic designer" LOL I started learning about product designing as soon as i quit high school and i'm so proud of myself about the decision i made without going to any university or a design school.

[@AJSmart]

Amazing story Sithum! Wishing you all the best on your journey! 🤗

[@sithumlahiruu]

@@AJSmart Thank you guys! I'm a die hard fan of this channel :)

[@TimBalabuch]

Brazilian fan here! haha

[@AJSmart]

WOHOOOooo

[@RyandeMetz]

I'm a self-taught Human 🖐even though I am doing some university classes on the side. But to be honest, the short courses and tutorials I have done over the years from the likes of Udacity, Skillshare, Lynda even KZbin! have done me wonders!! Plus if you engage in online communities you can make real internet friends!!! Those connections could be just as good if not better (in my case it is) in the long run.

[@AJSmart]

REAL INTERNET FRIENDS!! haha! It's cool that we live in a world where you don't have to live on the same continent to "network"

[@mishaespinoza3900]

I'm a fan, but I'm not from Brazil.

[@mikebelmont5919]

I studied graphic design and it was a huuuge waste of money and especially a waste of time, fortunately, I was working during my studies and got my first design job on the second year, those who studied without doing anything more, are still working in Mcdonalds now (not as designers). My message to design padawans: do something by yourself (learn from the internet, look for mentors, find your first design job even for free) instead of studying, studies = extremely slow progress.

[@AJSmart]

I think for a lot of people this is their experience with uni... it'll be interesting to see what happens to it years down the road!

[@mikebelmont5919]

John you doesn't sound irish.

[@jonathancourtney1175]

I know! Sorry :D

[@huntrrams]

Why do so many jobs ask for a college degree?

[@AJSmart]

Probably because it's easier for them to quantify a set of experiences or skills this way, or they have links / relationships to the institutions in their countries. We think it's slightly old fashioned and a bit redundant now to demand this from people, in the age of the internet where people can learn so much and work remotely online, gaining experience etc. What are your thoughts on this?

[@huntrrams]

AJ&Smart There are many online courses and even UX related boot camps like Designation that will help you. Getting a college degree can be expensive.

[@chriscarter3172]

It's actually "la croy". la as in law 😂

[@jonathancourtney1175]

L.A. CROCKS

[@AJSmart]

CORRECT

[@raulhespinosa]

Yeah, don't pay for University but pay a lot of money for your "master class", sure

[@AJSmart]

Hey Raul, the Masterclass is an online based platform for learning how to facilitate and run Design Sprints. We're able to offer excellent training in this area, having many years of first hand experience, and the course be completed at your own pace. There's real value there, we just feel a lot that is taught at university can be learned from free resources online and in much less time. What's your take on it? Are you currently studying at a university?

[@raulhespinosa]

@@AJSmart I understand you can learn whatever you want outside the university, French, Italian, Spanish, architecture or whatever you like, but please University is important to develop other skills, social, free-thinking, debates, enjoy, know your best friends in life, and also the body of knowledge that you can get everywhere, but difficult to discuss without being in an environment like that. Now, saying that, I'm sure that whatever you sell has value, but one thing can't replace the other.