HEADWAY / DESIGN EDUCATION
A Figma design system course that sold 25+ seats through organic marketing.
The Shipwright Design System Course is an in-depth guide to using the Figma platform to build a unified design language. Concepts such as design principles, component design, and the development of a unified design language are introduced and explored throughout the course. The goal of this course is to teach designers the best practices for building a design system that can be reused indefinitely for different projects with minimal effort.
Project details
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Context
A design system course built on field-tested work.
There are plenty of online design system courses that detail the process of building a design system. In contrast to competing programs, our Shipwright UI kit and design system has been field-tested in 30+ customer projects across a wide range of sectors.
Plan of action
Asking designers what they want to learn.
For our design system course, we mapped out a strategy for how we'd like the students to progress through the material and what they should take away from the experience.
We conducted user research and surveys, asking a handful of questions about what people want from a design system course and how much they are ready to spend on such a course.
- How familiar are you with design systems?
- Have you previously used a design system in your projects? If yes, please describe your experience.
- Are you more interested in theoretical aspects (e.g., principles behind design systems) or practical application (e.g., implementing a design system in a project)?
- How much time are you willing to dedicate to a design system course on a weekly basis?
- What format do you prefer for learning (e.g., video tutorials, written guides, interactive workshops)?
In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.
Solution
A team-recorded course and a rebuilt UI kit.
The designers on our team were willing to contribute to the videos on topics that interested them. After I got answers and clarity on the plan of action for our design system course and we constructed the landing page for it, I chose to contribute as much as I could.
Outcome
25+ seats sold in six months, without paid ads.
- seats sold in six months through organic marketing
- 25+
- lessons
- 46
- of video
- 11+ hrs
- customer projects that field-tested the UI kit
- 30+
Website
A landing page to market our design course.
Kajabi platform
After looking over various options, we decided on the Kajabi platform for our design system course.
Sold 25+ seats
We sold 25+ seats for our course in the span of 6 months through organic marketing alone.
Personal growth
Improved understanding of design principles and a new skill added for personal growth.
Business growth
An additional source of business growth for the Headway design team.
“Appreciated that it reflected a realistic workflow - some of the order of operations represent what I work through in my job, NOT a polished linear “YouTube” or bootcamp experience and I loved that.”
“It provides practical steps to tackle all of the problems when setting up, maintaining, and implementing a healthy, evolving design system.”
“Whether one is starting from zero or somewhere in between, I liked how clearly the material was presented and having access to real resources.”
Next steps
Keeping the course current as Figma evolves.
- Keep updating the videos with new updates from Figma.
- Recently recorded videos on Variables.
- Add best practices for designers as we grow.
- Maintain regular user feedback requests.
Wonderful explanation and easy to understand. Also a valuable content to learn.