SQUAD* is a program in which undergraduate students develop real projects for companies in the field of digital design and experience design.

It is an opportunity that will bring together ESMAD Graphic and Multimedia Design students, with Computer Engineering students from New York City Design Factory and Business and Management students from Warsaw University of Technology.

The methodology is strongly inspired by the Design Council's Double Diamond process, the IDEO design ideology, and the Stanford University @ d.school Design Thinking process.

SQUAD has been designed and developed in order to meet the challenges from the industry. The role of designers, engineers and even business staff is changing. today, a product is rarely just physical and consumers expectations are higher than ever. The challenge for designers, engineers and business staff is to design and deliver meaningful experiences, both online and offline. SQUAD brings industry leaders together to work with students on real world challenges, equipping students with the tools and methodologies needed to design and deploy products, services and systems, for the real world.

Pedagogical Goals

SQUAD will develop students’ technical, creative and strategic skills to lead the change within this evolving industry. Students will explore experience design (and related fields such as service design and interaction design), understanding human behaviour, rigorous research, digital technologies and prototyping, project management, business and how to build an effective team.

Additionally, upon conclusion of SQUAD, students will be able to design, develop and deliver high quality experiences, products and services. Students will be able to work across disciplinary, cultural and geographical boundaries to design innovative solutions to meet user and business needs. Above all, they will be able to operate strategically as an agent of change and have the knowledge, skills and competence to work at the forefront of this industry.

Students will explore:

                  -  Digital strategy;


                  -  Business modelling;


                  -  UI / UX development;


                  -  Work with agile/lean processes;


                  -  Emerging and established technologies for creating experiences;


                  -  Human-centred design processes;


                  -  Idea generation, selection and development;


                  -  Behavioural psychology


 
Length:

8 Months = 30 weeks x 8 hours (10 ECTS)


 

*A ‘squad’ is a cross-functional team that acts as a small start-up within a company. Concept was made famous by Spotify.