Design Management: The Real World and it’s Value

I wasn’t always an aspiring industrial designer, however no matter what I was pursuing it always was based around one common theme: problem solving. Whether it was my desire to become a psychologist or even an aspiring prop designer, I found myself constantly in the driver’s seat of identifying and solving problems on a daily basis. It was then pursuing an industrial design career path that I began to realize just how much of it was problem solving on all fronts. We are storytellers and problem solvers, and to do any of those two we must learn key management skills to use them successfully. 

However, they extend past that, and I have found that the skills I learn as a designer play into my day to day life in “the real world”. Teams were sorted amongst the juniors in the department and the goal was to design something demonstrating how the pandemic has changed our views on housewares over time. My group developed a product entitled “Arco” which helps users use their personal devices for those who may use yoga to help cope with anxiety symptoms influenced by the pandemic. Out of the three of us, only one of us had (amateur) experience with yoga. The topic was not something we all agreed upon right away - even the anxiety aspect of it. We knew we did not want to do furniture right away, and had a mutual agreement that we needed to do something out of our comfort zone to better utilize our design management education and skills. We did just that, and we forced ourselves to make the tough decisions, hear everyone’s point of view and feelings, and sit down until we all made a decision that we could all agree upon. We even developed a number system to aid in this process

I use these skills in my daily life. I have numerous roles in which I am leading a group of people, and in that role I have to make tough yet important decisions - like how we had to on that project. I use the techniques we developed and learned and I even translate them into family / friend life, role leadership, and pretty much every other decision I have to make. Analyzing decisions and their consequences ahead of time before they happen. Similar to ideating on a legal pad, any plans I form or situations that may arise I ideate numerous solutions to those scenarios in case one falls through. Above all, how I converse with others has changed significantly. I’m a former magician by trade - and I have learned just as much if not more about storytelling by being an industrial designer.  Along with other projects we have done within the program at MassArt, mainly those working with consulting firms, my speech pattern and way of communicating has become a lot more effective. It’s subtle, but it’s hard not to see how design skills, values, and management education have prepared me for “the real world”.