Sharing is one way to learn and develop
Book: Anyone Can Design, even a kitten
Designers have made up complicated, often nonsensical, terms to explain design to others. And the way that design gets introduced by them stops others from developing the confidence to design things. I believe that we need a simpler, more human way to talk about design and how to apply it. That’s why I put together a booklet so more people can learn about the mindset of designers.
Anyone Can Design →
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.
This project was accomplished with the help from:
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 ads a soul to the book.
Velvet Academy: Design for non-designers
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 →
Developing a New M.A. Program in Interaction Design
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 →
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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 government of Estonia, and etc. After developing and leading the program for three years and educating the Estonian Academy of Art about the topic, I decided to end my responsibilities and let them continue with it themselves.
Workshops
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 →
My training material were once copied, which I took as a compliment and put together a little article about it here too.