Sharing has always been a way for me to learn and grow as a designer.
In 2016, I was asked to establish a new Master's Program in Interaction Design at the Estonian Academy of Art. During the three years of my involvement, I was responsible for the development of curriculum and the vision, establishing partnerships with industry and the leadership of the program before handing it over in Spring 2019. Learn more about the program here: IxD.ma.
During my time leading the IxD.ma program I was also a mentor and tutor for the following topics:
Introduction to interaction design thinking
Design storytelling
Digital product innovation
Emotional Design
Tangible Design
Immersive Experiences
I also helped establish and run industry projects with Spotify, Google, Swedbank, Elisa, Telia, the Estonian government, and others. After three years of developing and leading the program, I handed it over to the Academy in 2019 so the team could continue building on what we had created.
While I was involved in university education, I kept looking for a simpler way to introduce design to people just starting out. Design often gets explained through complicated, sometimes nonsensical terms, and that can stop people from developing the confidence to design things at all. So I put together a fun little booklet, a more human way to talk about the mindset of designers.
To put this book together, I approached around 20 designers from companies like Google, Facebook, IDEO, Microsoft, Twitter, Airbnb, and more to look for inspiration. My goal was to uncover the deeper values that make one a designer. You can read more about how the book came together here.
This project was made possible with the help of:
Janno Siimar, the co-author of the book, is an inspiring figure who is pushing the limit on how design can make the world a better place.
Ivan Marinkovic is a super star copywriter and design enthusiast. His involvement helped to make sure that the book is easy to understand for everyone.
Giovanna Giuliano is an amazing illustrator who joined the team to help bring the story to life. With her powerful storytelling skills the story of Fliss the kitten adds a soul to the book.
Back in 2015, Janno Siimar and I decided to share everything we had learned about design with anyone who is interested in design. We wanted more people to learn "designer's way of thinking". So we launched Velvet Academy and offered a free course called "Design for non-designers." Read more about the program here: Velvet Academy.
I have conducted multiple workshops and trainings for different teams in different companies with different needs. Here are the topics of some of the workshops I have done recently:
Prototyping the Intelligent Experiences
Introduction to Design Mindset
Product and Service Design for Startups
From User Insight to Idea Creation
Thinking and Doing like a Designer
Thinking by Hand
Emotional Design
Acting as a Design Tool