How a Design Management masters degree could supercharge your CV

There’s more to design than creating an appealing or practical product. It’s a discipline which involves creative thought processes that lead to innovative solutions. Today, this is becoming widely recognised as businesses look to use design, and design management in particular, to find new ways of succeeding commercially.

Both Apple and Tesla are good examples of big brands achieving their strategic mission and goals through design management. Their teams have strategically used creative problem solving approaches to connect with the needs of their customers more effectively.

And by developing their understanding of design management, its tools and techniques, creatives will be equipping themselves with skills that could help them prepare for management level positions. Even non designers working closely with creatives can benefit from a strong knowledge of design management, as it will help them to better understand and manage their design teams.

One way to develop your design management skills is with a Design Management MA from Northumbria School of Design. Here’s how the postgraduate course could help take your career to the next level.

It will help you master design thinking abilities

Design thinking can be seen as both an ideology and a process. But at its core, it’s concerned with finding user centric and creative solutions to problems. It does this by breaking problems down into component parts, allowing you to identify core issues and take effective action.

With the Design Thinking module, students will be introduced to unique design thinking methods. And with these skills, they will discover how to apply creative solutions to challenges in order to create new opportunities.

This knowledge can be applied to your current role immediately, meaning that you’ll be able to see the benefits right away. And because it’s transferable, this strategic approach to problem solving can be applied to different contexts beyond the conventional design sphere.

You’ll learn how design and business are connected

Design and business might appear to be quite separate disciplines. However a good manager will spot how they can aid one another. With the Design Management: Strategy module, students on this course will discover how the two are closely aligned.

By learning how traditionally analytic business models can work alongside creative design thinking, you’ll develop sharper and more innovative strategic skills. This is vital for managerial positions where you may be required to identify new opportunities for growth for your business.

Design Management students will be ahead of their peers. They will be able to use design thinking to approach business problems innovatively. Plus they will be able to use what they’ve learnt to create unique, strategic solutions that engage with an organisation’s needs - bridging the gap between the commercial world, and the creative one.

It will improve your knowledge of the design process

Knowing how design works within a larger corporate framework can be difficult to figure out, and even harder to express. But being able to demonstrate how design can help your business get ahead is crucial if you want your career to progress.

With the Design Management: Articulating Value module, you’ll be able to do exactly that. This section will introduce you to the definitions of design management, and show you how design is linked to your organisation’s success.

By analysing case studies you’ll find out how multinationals have used design to expand their business. You’ll also learn how to communicate design theories to your team in order to put these processes and activities into action in your company.

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Studying a Design Management MA at Northumbria School of Design doesn’t have to get in the way of your work, in fact you’ll be able to act on what you’ve learnt quickly. And because it’s a distance learning course, this MA is a convenient way to level up your career.

Currently ranked in the top 10 for Design and Crafts in The Guardian UK University Guide 2020, Northumbria’s School of Design academic and support teams will assist you from your first year to beyond graduation. Everything you need to study will be available via an online portal, and graduates will gain exclusive access to an employability hub packed with career-developing resources.

So if you want to join a design school with an international reputation for excellence, and one whose illustrious alumni boasts the likes of Sir Jonathan Ive, Rob Law MBE and Nicola Morgan, find out more about the Design Management MA here.