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

May 2025

June 2025

July 2025

August 2025

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

Cut months off your job search. Target the right companies, write unforgettable case studies, & build a portfolio that can't be ignored.

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

Design Job Search: Strategy & Tactics

Product design

Product designer

Freelance Design Lead

Product Design

With AI enabling speed & quantity, master product strategy to ship the highest quality design work of your career.

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

PM Masterclass for Designers

Sr. Product Designer

UX Designer

Senior Product Designer

Lead UX/UI 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.

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

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 career forward. 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 that. 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 PMs, influence key stakeholders, and stay essential as AI transforms the role of design across every company, this course is for you.

Future-proof your design career by mastering the product skills AI can’t replace

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

As an experienced designer, you need your next role to keep your career momentum on track. These days, finding and landing that right next role can take many months—but it doesn’t have to. Having hired hundreds of designers, including for companies like DoorDash, Airbnb, &amp; Palantir, I’ve seen what companies are desperate for—but just not finding—in designer after designer. In Design Job Search: Strategy + Tactics, we'll work together to position you as exactly what companies are looking for. From how to write world-class case studies to polishing overlooked details that make your portfolio perfect, you’ll learn dozens of tactics I’ve used to get offers from the most reputable tech companies in the world. As one student put it:&nbsp;“Ryan’s approach is a rare, truthful &amp; invaluable resource for designers who want more than just a job—they want a successful career in design. Take this course if you’re looking for a clear, actionable guide to stand out in a market that’s become increasingly templatized. You spend countless hours helping companies grow—now it’s time to invest in your growth.” If you want to&nbsp;stand out from the competition, find the&nbsp;right next opportunity,&nbsp;get in front of leading companies, and&nbsp;land a better design job faster, this course is for you.

Land the design job that's right for you—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 position themselves accordingly

*NOT* for early-career or aspiring designers. This course is for folks with at least 5+ years of full-time experience as a designer

Who this course for

What you’ll get out this course

You don’t have time to waste. In just two days, this weekend workshop will help you level up your portfolio, case studies, and job search strategy—fast. Then, keep up your momentum with two optional office hour sessions.

Immediate job search transformation

Get Ryan's personal storytelling framework—and prompts that help you decide what details to keep or cut—so your case studies stand out and can’t be ignored by recruiters and hiring managers.

Unique storytelling prompts & templates

Tired of rejections with no feedback? Learn exactly where your applications may be falling short, and where to focus, to start landing more portfolio reviews and job offers.

Clarity on what’s holding you back

Work closely with Ryan—a former Airbnb Design Lead whose work was regularly reviewed by Brian Chesky—to perfect your portfolio &amp; case studies. Learn what to hit, what to avoid, and how to present your work like a top-tier candidate.

Personalized feedback from an Airbnb Design Lead

Taught live and attended by designers ranging from Senior ICs to VPs, grow your network and get thoughtful feedback from experienced peers, design leaders, and hiring managers.

Learn alongside hiring managers and design leaders

Defusing Politics to Ship Great Designs

Design leader · Airbnb, DoorDash, Salesforce · Berkeley MBA

Learn to keep turf wars, executive meddling, missing info, & perceived failure from derailing your projects.

Get a tactical playbook that works

To give your project the best shot, decide who to involve, when to bring them in, and how to engage them.

Learn to prevent pushback before it starts

Hear how politics nearly derailed big launches, and how I got them back on track.

Go behind-the scenes at Airbnb & DoorDash

After the lesson, stay for an extra 30-minute of Q&A to get help with your toughest stakeholder situations.

Join the bonus Q&A for personalized advice

Making the Business Case for Design Craft

Define and share what "design craft" means so it doesn't come across as big, vague, or costly to non-designers.

What is craft?

Understand why companies regularly deprioritize the details designers care about

Why craft isn't often a priority

Relentlessly pushing for craft isn’t the right move. Gain credibility by knowing when to push or when to compromise.

When you should—or shouldn't—push for craft

Learn business arguments to successfully advocate for your design priorities and unlock support from key stakeholders.

How to advocate for craft with business language

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

ATS formatting? Unposted jobs? What matters, and what doesn't? 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

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

Ryan Scott

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