Ryan Scott

Cohort 1

March 2024

April 25

December 2023

January 2024

February 2024

March 2024 APAC

November 2023

Mar 24

January 2025

April 2024

May 2024

June 2024

Webflow private cohort

August 2024

September 2024

Self-paced Cohort

March 2025

October 2024

November 2024

December 2024

February 2025

March 25

The design industry is changing faster than most designers can keep up, leaving designers at all levels uncertain about their careers. Not having a career strategy is not an option anymore. Today, I’ll share lessons from my MBA to explain what’s changing about the Design industry, why it’s been turbulent, and how to achieve your career goals in today’s market. Learn to:<ul><li>Understand the business forces changing the Design industry</li><li>Avoid career traps set by the current market</li><li>Build a strategy to move your career goals forward</li></ul>

Free lesson: How to Accelerate your Design Career in 2025

Learn business school tactics for running a successful design review with senior leadership. We go deeper on these techniques in the full course, Describing the ROI of Design.

Free lesson: Make your next review a success

PM Masterclass for Designers

Owner, Creative Director

Senior product design manager

Staff Product Designer

Product Manager

Design Operations Manager

Head of Design

UX Designer

At Airbnb, I experienced the magic that happens when business leaders truly understand Design. What if your stakeholders understood the value of design and empowered you to do the best work of your career? Describing the ROI of Design gives you tools to break through to business leaders. Through frameworks, lessons, and tactics taught in top business schools, you will develop the skills to articulate and demonstrate the value of your work in a way that resonates with non-designers across all levels of your organization. As one design leader put it: "The way I talk since your course has completely changed and I’m being heard by everyone! I’m a little bit pleased about winning arguments and creating visibility and understanding of all the awesome work my team and I are doing." If you want more room to do great work, want leaders to listen to your design rationale, want to be more involved in the product development process, or want to drive more impact as a designer in your organization, this course is for you. -- Training your team? Email Ryan for bulk pricing and private cohorts: ryan@ryanscottconsulting.com

Learn business school tactics to gain influence & drive impactful design work

To influence stakeholders, Designers must connect our work back to business impact. 🔨 Proprietary framework: Outcome Flow Chart 🎙️ Case studies: DoorDash founding story + early company values 📚 MBA lessons: Validation types by company life stage (Entrepreneurship), Systems maps (Systems Thinking), Positions vs Interests (Negotiation) + more!

Gain credibility by connecting Design value to business metrics and financial outcomes

Design creates more value than just what’s measured in Product metrics. 🔨 Proprietary framework: Design’s total business value framework 🎙️ Case studies: Airbnb booking flow redesign, Launching DoorDash’s photography program 📚 MBA lessons: Fundamentals of Profit + ROI (Finance), STAR framework (Management) + more!

Develop company-wide influence by demonstrating Design's holistic business value

Successfully demonstrating design’s value depends on your company's stage, structure, and culture. 🔨 Proprietary frameworks: Company Environment + Approach variables frameworks 🎙️ Case study: Blockbuster vs Apple 📚 MBA lessons: Company life stage fundamentals and Founder profile (Entrepreneurship), Company culture (Management) + more!

Tailor tactics to be successful within your specific environment

Apply tactics from go-to-market strategy to successfully drive change in your organization. 🔨 Proprietary framework: Mainstream adoption framework 🎙️ Case study: Airbnb booking flow redesign 📚 MBA lessons: Diffusion of Innovation, Crossing the Chasm, and Beachhead strategy (Marketing), Identifying allies (Power &amp; Politics) + more!

"Go to market" with changes that will help Design succeed in your business

Course syllabus

2x live sessions introduce actionable tactics and frameworks.

Live sessions

Optional Q&amp;A session immediately after class while lessons are fresh

Post-session Q&A

Optional exercises, lessons, and resources to expand your learning

Self-paced exercises

Course schedule

Experienced UX designers who want to unlock more strategic and impactful product design work for themselves and others

Design leaders &amp; managers who must collaborate with and persuade founders, executives, and other cross-functional leaders

Designers who work in Product or Eng-led environments where good Design must be strongly (and carefully) advocated for

Designers interested in business, but don't want to take on the huge cost of business school to learn key skills

Who this course is for

What you will get out of this course

Through five proprietary frameworks developed by Ryan from his experience getting C-suite execs bought into major initiatives, expand how you think about the business value of your work so you can effectively communicate it to others

A new business perspective on your design work’s value

Lectures pull the most valuable lessons from 11 MBA courses—including Entrepreneurship, Statistics, Finance, Negotiation, Marketing, Economics &amp; more—to help you speak the same language as business stakeholders.

A communication style that resonates with business leaders

Through exercises and Q&amp;A, get feedback, advice, and tactics from Ryan to ensure course content is immediately applicable to your specific situation

Personalized 1:1 guidance

The course attracts Senior Product Designers to VPs of Design. Through small, live cohorts, get feedback and advice from fellow designers from around the world

Access to an engaged group of international expert designers

Can't make every live session? Never miss a beat with recordings sent immediately after each lesson. With lifetime access, refer back to every framework, tactic, and "ah-ha" moment for the rest of your career.

Lifetime access to recordings from every session

Articulate & demonstrate the value of your Design work in a way that business stakeholders understand, appreciate, and reward.

Learn business from a designer with real-world business expertise

As a designer, being able to identify, validate, and bring new product opportunities to market propelled my design career forward (even when companies were more skeptical of Design). But, having led 100-person initiatives and shipped some of today's most recognizable products at DoorDash &amp; Airbnb, I’ve seen how the out-of-the-box product development process often falls short. Designers have the power to change this outcome. In PM Masterclass for Designers, we'll go beyond the basics. Learn the tactics and proprietary frameworks I created to uncover new business opportunities, keep massive projects on track, and win-over some of today’s most successful business leaders. If you want to confidently lead product strategy, be a stronger partner to your PMs, win over key business stakeholders, or future-proof your design career with business skills, this course is for you.

Confidently drive product strategy while future-proofing your design career

Provide a brief description for each module as a way to sell the value of what students will be learning throughout the course.

First Module

Second Module

Third Module

4x live sessions introduce actionable tactics and frameworks.

Live lecture

Experienced PMs will join each cohort to share their experience &amp; the top Product tactics designers need to know

Expert PM guest speakers

Exercises &amp; resources to expand your learning

Experienced UX Designers who want to influence what ships, when it ships, and explain the business rationale for why it's valuable.

Design leaders &amp; managers seeking new tools to uncover business opportunities &amp; advocate for Design from a business perspective.

Designers who want stronger partnerships with PMs or are considering a shift to Product Management themselves.

Who is this course for

What you’ll get out of this course

Learn the tactics I used to discover, pitch, and drive the launch of live order tracking, remote driver training, mobile group orders, and Dasher Instant Pay at DoorDash.

Frameworks for identifying, validating, and shipping great products

Learn how to navigate the complex development process, from getting projects on the roadmap to making sure one bad A/B test doesn't derail the whole project.

Tools to confidently participate in and lead strategic product initiatives

Through exercises and Q&amp;A, get feedback, advice, and tactics from Ryan to ensure course content is immediately applicable

Through small, live cohorts, get feedback and advice from fellow experienced designers from around the world

Master product strategy & development to drive impact, gain influence, and ship the best design work of your career.

Learn product management skills from a designer with hands-on PM expertise

As an experienced designer, you want to make the right next career move. Meanwhile, landing a new role is harder than ever. The industry is evolving rapidly, the job market feels unfamiliar, and some skills no longer seem to matter. Approaching your job search without a strategy isn't an option anymore. Throughout my career, I’ve zigged when most others zagged. As a candidate, I learned to pick the right companies (leading to 4 exits), tell compelling stories (leading to consistent offers), and tailor my messaging to each company (leading to multiple, competing offers). As an in-house designer, I've hired design leaders for top roles. As a leadership coach, this year I've taught designers at all levels how to land new roles and that propel their careers forward. In&nbsp;Career &amp; Job Search Strategy for Designers, I'll help you optimize your job search with my MBA-level business insights and hands-on exercises focused on two critical areas: Building your career &amp; job search strategy and mastering design job search tactics to target, find, and successfully apply to opportunities that will be great for your career. If you want to stand out in a sea of competition, find the right next opportunity, get a foot in the door with leading companies, and land a better design job faster, this course is for you.

Accelerate your design career in any job market

Build an effective career and job search strategy with business lessons, Ryan's proprietary career frameworks, and hands-on exercises.

Saturday: Design Career Strategy

Learn &amp; practice key tactics to encourage inbound leads and make your outbound efforts more effective, including revising your portfolio case studies and avoiding common messaging mistakes.

Sunday: Design Job Search Tactics

Drop in for career strategy feedback or portfolio critique after you've had time to implement the learnings from our workshop.

Two bonus Office Hour sessions

Experienced Senior to Principal ICs who are considering a change or actively seeking roles that align to their long-term career goals.

Experienced Managers, Senior Managers, &amp; Directors who want to make sense of new market conditions and reposition themselves accordingly.

NOT for junior or aspiring designers. This course will only resonate with designers who have had 3+ previous full-time design roles.

Who this course for

What you’ll get out this course

Designers often apply too broadly to too many jobs. Avoid burnout by targeting the right companies where your application is more likely to succeed.

A winning strategy for the roles you should be targeting

Gain a deep understanding of how factors like business stage &amp; ROI-based decision making shape what companies look for. Learn to position &amp; communicate strengths &amp; skills—and describe your work's outcomes—in relation to the company's goals.

An MBA-level understanding of key business factors that affect hiring decisions

In class, we'll review and dial-in your case study stories with hands-on feedback on your portfolio website and on-site portfolio presentations. Learn what notes to hit, and what mistakes to avoid.

Polished case studies that are more likely to land & win interviews

Asking smart questions makes you stand out as an insightful candidate and gives you data to know whether the company is the right fit for you, too. Get Ryan's top questions, and learn how to build your own questions that give you the insight you need.

A list of questions YOU should ask in interviews

Applying to design roles is unlike anything else. We have to build perfect portfolios, explain the value of Design to non-designers, and are judged on project criteria that we don't have full control over.

A career & job search course designed just for Designers

We'll go beyond lecture &amp; frameworks, actively working through exercises together in real-time. Every step of the way, Ryan will help you dial-in your strategy and deliverables to accelerate your job search.

Live hands-on instruction & real-time 1:1 feedback

Build the right strategy & leverage uncommon tactics to land an exceptional design role.

Learn to get hired from a designer who's built a world-class career

True or False: What actually matters in a design job search?

Design leader · Ex-Airbnb & DoorDash · U.C. Berkeley MBA

Hang Xu

Founder & Talent Agent @ Collective Supply

To land a role quickly, make sure you're not missing a factor that actually does impact hiring decisions.

Find out what actually matters to land a new design role

Not everything you hear in the blogosphere or from influencers is right. We'll cut through the noise so you can focus.

Learn to ignore common misconceptions about hiring

Want to stand out? Start by simply avoiding the biggest mistakes most designers make when it comes to getting hired.

Avoid the most common design job search mistakes

Accelerate your Design Career in 2025

Design leader · Airbnb, DoorDash, Salesforce · Berkeley MBA

Learn how forces like Economics, Entrepreneurship, & Strategy are reshaping design careers & job opportunities.

Understand the business forces changing the Design industry

Designers are being pushed towards jobs that may undermine their larger career goals. Learn to spot & avoid these traps.

Avoid career traps set by the current market

A good strategy will help you get ahead. Learn how I've recently helped designers land raises, promotions, & new jobs.

Build a strategy to move your career goals forward

Building Design Teams with Clout

Ryan Scott (Host)

Founder @ Accelerate Design. Ex-Design Lead @ Airbnb & DoorDash. UC Berkeley MBA

Alex Schleifer

Former Airbnb Chief Design Officer. Co-Founder at Human Computer.

We’ll dive into the short- and long-term benefits for designers & our companies when design teams are truly empowered.

Why Design teams should have more influence in their orgs

Why don’t all Design teams have clout? We'll breakdown why non-designers might be unclear about Design’s value & impact.

What holds Design teams back from being more impactful?

Everyone—not just leaders—can build Design’s influence. Bring your colleagues to unlock meaningful design work together.

Join with your team & learn to build influence together

Grow your design credibility at any tech company

Founder @ Accelerate Design, Former Design Lead @ Airbnb & DoorDash, UC Berkeley MBA

Tommy Geoco

Author of UX Tools Newsletter (80k+ Readers), 14 yrs of product design experience

From collaboration to the design process itself, learn how to adapt your process to get recognized for your work

Adapt how you work to get credit for the value you create

Credibility is a finite resource. Learn to avoid common errors that make your perspective as a designer easier to ignore

What top mistakes that cause designers to lose credibility

Making a change? Learn how to quickly identify and align what matters most to your new team or company

How to move effectively to a new team or company

Ask Designer Tom himself your top questions about how he's succeeded at companies of different stages

Live Q&A with Tommy

Defending your Designs

We'll break down how concerns about Value, Cost, & Risk drive business decisions and are often the source of opposition

Identify the business reasons for pushback

Learn the difference between constraints and pushback so you can prioritize your focus and preserve your credibility

Learn how to pick your battles

Mitigate common arguments to win "swing voters" over to your side and keep your solutions moving forward

Practice counter-arguments that neutralize pushback

Presenting Designs to get Executive Buy-In

Work that resonates gets shipped. Learn how to decide what designs to show, how to show them, and how to frame them.

Identify what design work will resonate

Avoid subjective feedback and pixel-level pushback by learning to anchor your design rationale in business terms

Position yourself to get the right feedback

Learn how stakeholder maps, the stairstep approach, and the Japanese art of nemawashi will mitigate in-meeting surprises

Ryan Scott

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