Issue No. 04The Programs Index
Three tracks.
Twelve weeks.
One job‑ready portfolio.
IWTD I runs three mentor‑led certificate programs in UX/UI, Product Design, and Graphic Design. Each one is a fixed‑start, cohort‑based, twelve‑week commitment that graduates a working designer — backed by a 93% placement rate within 180 days and a portfolio reviewed by an external panel of 40+ design directors.
Track 01
The flagship pathway
UX/UI Design — research to interface, in twelve weeks.
A generalist UX/UI program built for career-changers and early-career designers who want a working command of the full product design loop: user research, information architecture, interaction patterns, and high-fidelity interface production in Figma.
What you will learn
- Week 1–3 · Research and discovery — interview protocols, synthesis, problem framing, jobs-to-be-done.
- Week 4–6 · Information architecture and flows — sitemaps, task models, low-fi wireframes, usability testing.
- Week 7–9 · Interface and system design — Figma components, design tokens, accessible patterns, prototyping.
- Week 10–12 · Capstone — a single shipped case study reviewed by an external hiring panel of 40+ design directors.
Software taught
Figma · FigJam · Maze · Dovetail · Notion · Webflow (orientation) · HTML/CSS literacy for designers.
Track 02
For designers who want to own outcomes
Product Design — systems thinking, design ops, end-to-end ownership.
A track for designers who don't want to hand off a screen and hope for the best. Product Design at IWTD I treats the designer as a systems thinker — fluent in metrics, ops, and the working language of product managers, with an end-to-end case study shipped by Week 12.
What you will learn
- Week 1–3 · Product sense — opportunity mapping, problem statements, the discovery-to-definition arc.
- Week 4–6 · Systems and ops — design tokens at scale, contribution models, governance, contribution playbooks.
- Week 7–9 · Quantitative craft — A/B reading, funnel analytics, experimentation literacy, PM-ready artifacts.
- Week 10–12 · Capstone — an end-to-end product case study shipped to a real hiring panel, not a fictional brief.
Software taught
Figma · FigJam · Amplitude · Mixpanel · Linear · Notion · Light HTML/CSS and SQL orientation for designers.
Track 03
The craft-focused track
Graphic Design — brand systems, typography, editorial layout.
A craft-led program for designers who care about the letterform, the grid, and the system behind a brand. Twelve weeks of typography, identity, and editorial work — graduating students with portfolios that get interviews at agencies and in-house brand teams alike.
What you will learn
- Week 1–3 · Typography and grid — type pairing, hierarchy, editorial systems, the Swiss-to-modern lineage.
- Week 4–6 · Identity and brand — logo systems, voice, color, application across print and digital.
- Week 7–9 · Editorial and motion — magazine spreads, packaging, motion principles for static designers.
- Week 10–12 · Capstone — a full brand identity + editorial system reviewed by an external design director panel.
Software taught
Adobe InDesign · Illustrator · Photoshop · Figma · Glyphs (orientation) · After Effects (orientation).
The Twelve-Week Arc
Four phases, four deliverables, one ship date.
Every IWTD I track runs on the same twelve-week cadence. The work changes; the rhythm does not. Here is what every cohort does, week by week.
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I.
Weeks 1–3 · Foundations
Onboarding, mentor pairing, tools, and the first short project. You finish Phase I with a research artifact and a written problem statement.
Deliverable → Research brief + problem statement
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II.
Weeks 4–6 · Exploration
Concept generation, iteration, and your first mid-fi artifact. Cohort crits start here — every student presents weekly to a senior mentor panel.
Deliverable → Mid-fi concept, peer-critiqued
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III.
Weeks 7–9 · Production
High-fidelity execution, system design, and a working prototype. Mentors move from coaching to co-reviewing as you approach a ship-ready artifact.
Deliverable → High-fidelity prototype + system
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IV.
Weeks 10–12 · Capstone
A single shipped case study, reviewed by an external panel of 40+ design directors. Hiring partner interviews begin in Week 11 — before graduation day.
Deliverable → Capstone case study + panel review
Work you would be proud to send
Graduate portfolio, across all three tracks.
Four graduate artifacts from the 2024 cohorts. Every piece below was shipped as a capstone or mid-program case study, then reviewed by our external panel of 40+ design directors before graduation day.
Want to see more? Browse the full graduate index — 5,400+ designers, 47 countries.