The Making of the Programme
Having started out as a graduate in Wove myself, I was excited to be tasked with designing our new graduate programme — remembering back to my first day entering the studio, eager for (and nervous about) the next chapter of learning.
Why did we do it?
Wove have worked with graduates for many years, but we decided it was time to rethink our processes for 2 core reasons:
- The team found that the way we did ‘internships’ wasn’t working. There was no clear process or structure, it felt like we were reinventing the wheel each time. There was no shared understanding or expectations set from the outset. All in all, it felt too reactive.
- We also found that when graduating college in Ireland there are supportive pathways for many types of designers, but not the problem-solving, multidisciplinary design hybrids (the likes of the Wove team!).
Before I dove in, we needed to step back and consider what we were doing and why. Why did we want to work with a graduate? How would we benefit and how would they benefit? To ensure a successful programme for both parties, we decided to create a value loop. The team would benefit from new perspectives and expanded viewpoints. We would get to work with, and learn from, new blood and build relationships. We would also have an extra pair of hands and the potential to grow our team. The graduate would benefit by being a part of our team and getting industry experience. We would also hope to ensure an active and immersive learning experience for the graduate, with the hope of helping them find their spark.
Our aim was to redesign how we work with (problem-solving, multidisciplinary design hybrid) graduates so that their first step into industry is in a supportive, nurturing environment where they get a professional grounding and relevant experience, and I think we’ve done just that.
Well, what did we do?
We worked through 3 phases: gather inspiration, generate ideas and make tangible.
Gather inspiration: To ensure a graduate-centered experience, I chatted to recent graduates and students to gather insights on what’s important to them. It’s through this research that we could design a programme that achieves everyone’s goals while also managing expectations.
Generate ideas: This phase started off with some desk research. What’s out there? What’s working? What’s innovative? I then plotted the findings from our chats onto a Figma board. How might we solve the team’s and the graduate’s unmet needs? This stage was all about collecting and collating (lots of!) ideas and weaving them into a cohesive whole.
Make tangible: Finally, I reviewed all the best ideas and opportunities and began building on them — while keeping the focus on making this a valuable and unique learning experience for the graduate and ensuring we were designing to address the unmet needs in the current graduate experience.
And what did we find?
Chatting as a team, with recent graduates and students uncovered the foundational human needs. It was fascinating to see how many of these hopes and goals for the programme aligned. Here are (just some of!) the opportunities I came across, along with some quotes from the Team and Emerging designers:
How can we create a safe place?
T: “You hope that their first step into the world is in our supportive, nurturing environment. Particularly if it’s the kind of people that might not say ‘I know exactly what I’m going to do’.”
E: “What helped me was actually a mentor that was telling me ‘You’re on the right track… You’re doing well, present this to the management. This showed me that I did some good work”
How can we create a pathway?
T: “I think that there are some really great initiatives and pathways for the designers who have a very clear sense of what they want to do. Wove is a place for people who are interested in problem-solving and… who might be a little bit lost… like “I don’t quite know what I want to do.”
E: “When they graduate [vis com], they have the chance to find themselves. Like what part of the industry they want to be. And I think that’s kind of exciting when you’re a graduate”
How can we put systems in place?
T: “Put the metrics down to how we’re deciding stuff and how we’re evaluating stuff… to document the processes and so when someone comes in, we know what stage they’re at.”
E: “A structured plan of like what you’re going to teach the intern, or how it’s going to unfold and it’s like, everyone’s aware of that plan.”
How can we nurture talent?
T: “Help them find their spark, and help them find what they’re really interested in or what they like… It’s just about kind of nurturing that and helping them find out who they are as a designer and who they are as a creative.”
E: “I’d like to come away way more proficient… in like Figma, InVision and prototyping and like wireframes and have really nailed down those processes… and gotten actual feedback on your processes and then gotten better and better and better.”
How can we have a shared understanding?
T: “Making the purpose of this clearer and also easier to share making it really tangible and… creating a path that we all understand”
E: “How do you also manage to make sure that the graduate is getting the right amount of experience? Just from a selfish perspective, I do think about what I would want.”
How can we set goals?
T: “Some sort of thing that threads through that 3 months that isn’t just about client work… I think it would be nice if there’s some sort of other layer to the whole experience.”
E: “If you can marry what you want to get out of the programme, with what the studio wants, that’s probably the most ideal scenario, “I want to learn this thing”… And then you’re all working towards the same goal.”
These conversations unravelled some key findings, such as:
- This shouldn’t be another internship — How can we help them evolve their skill set, work on client projects, contribute insights and expand their curiosity?
- This is a graduate programme for the multidisciplinary grad who is curious, process-driven and excited… and maybe even a bit lost.
- Students are really eager to learn and get experience.
- A shared roadmap and mentorship is essential. There needs to be a plan in place that everyone is a part of.
- Graduates should set goals too — how can we help them reach them by the end of the programme, what can they achieve?
- We need to manage expectations — for the team and the graduate.
Finally, I established a plan:
- In short? We should incorporate as many ‘opportunities’ as possible, which develop both soft and hard industry skills. From mentorship to online courses to team workshops. Having come across the IDEO U “See, Try, Share & Reflect” model, we decided to include this framework too.
- The first phase exposed the need for a shared roadmap, one that the team and the graduate are really clear on, where progress is mapped and milestones hit.
- There should also be Focus Weeks, which give the graduate the opportunity to discover and explore their spark.
- Engaging in an internal Wove Project would also give the graduate an opportunity to put their process and learnings into practice, and create something holistically for their portfolio.
- Another important asset to this programme is how it is communicated and shared — via an Instagram page. It was found that this is the best way to reach students and where they absorb industry information. We also found that many students don’t quite grasp who Wove are and what we do, so it’s important we start with this.
So, how have we designed the programme to do something about it?
We have designed a 3-month programme that is jam-packed with industry experience and learning opportunities, which are filled under the “See, Try, Share & Reflect” model. We will encourage the development of hard and soft skills through project work, guidance, resources, and some self-directed learning.
We decided on a shared and flexible roadmap that is made up of many key moments and stages. Moments like an ‘Introduction to Digital Hygiene’ or a ‘Programme Strength Review’ and stages like a ‘UX Focus Week’. We have designed the roadmap in a modular way — encouraged to be edited, modified and added to, especially with the graduate. Setting goals with and for the graduate at the beginning of the programme ensures a tailored and focused experience. Structured mentorship helps keep the graduate on track and supports them with any problems they may have.
By engaging in 3 different Focus Weeks (Strategy, Brand and UX) towards the start of the programme, the graduate is exposed to new areas (or new perspectives) of design that they might not have explored before. The graduate can trial the different paths they can take and hopefully unlock their spark. Meanwhile, the Wove Project allows the graduate to see, try, share and reflect on their learnings from the Wove process towards the end of the programme. This might be based on a subject they have a particular interest in, something discussed on a Wove Mind that the team highlight or a topic taken from one of our Team Workshops.
To see the full graduate roadmap, click here.
