Jesse James Garrett

We didn’t talk much about AI in our conversation with Dr. Lesley-Ann Noel on the latest episode of our design leadership podcast Finding Our Way, but maybe that’s because AI really set the context for the whole conversation.

As Dean of Design at OCAD University, Dr. Noel has to keep adapting her programs to prepare design students for changing market conditions and expectations. But when technological change threatens to upend existing design practices across the design spectrum, how can an academic curriculum keep pace?

Dr. Noel’s answer fascinated me. She advocates for an approach that looks beyond traditional craft skills to define the kind of creative professionals she wants OCAD to help create. Three aspects of her philosophy stood out to me.

The first is “thinglessness” as a way of understanding and practicing design. She uses this word to describe a design approach that isn’t rooted in a specific craft, but instead develops flexibility as a mindset.

“Even though people are learning in these initial silos, actually it’s a process that they’re learning that they can then apply in many different contexts, making you comfortable with being flexible and then you can take that flexibility in other places,” she says.

Secondly, she talks about school as a place to forge the necessary relationships to ensure career resilience. “We can’t teach you every single skill, but we can encourage you to have relationships with people who have the skill, or we can encourage you to develop relationships that will lead you to other opportunities,” she says.

Finally, there is her message of empowerment: That through taking control of the skills necessary to create, we grant ourselves the ability to remake our world. She says the real personal empowerment that comes from design education is “understanding the agency of making things, just being able to… get this idea from my head onto a screen or onto paper or whatever. And then the thing is made.”

Thanks Dr. Noel and of course Peter for a terrific conversation! Check out the whole episode at the Finding Our Way website..