eight weeks forty nights.

• materiallecture-led teaching.
• buildhands-on figma lab.
• collabcase-study group work.
• talkdiscussion, critique, 1:1.
• milestoneorientation, evaluation, jury.

phase dots: ● hand (craft, wk 1-4) · ○ brain (think, wk 5-7) · ● proof (ship, wk 8). accent corner = optional guest tech talk (weeks 4-5, up to 3, speaker-dependent).

1. wk 01hand

   figma fluency

   ships: trading cards challenge
   • mon
     orientationorientation

     everyone introduces themselves, the doctrine, the course map, tooling setup. no challenge tonight.

   • tue
     figma intro + trading cards live challengematerial

     design tools, what figma is, the canvas and mechanics, then the timed trading-cards challenge to close.

   • wed
     figma core mechanics labbuild

     constraints, boolean, corner radius, the 8pt grid, first components, building on the cards.

   • thu
     visual first principlesmaterial

     contrast, hierarchy, alignment, proximity, affordance, whitespace, type basics.

   • fri
     figma advanced + week-1 critiquecritique

     components, auto-layout, collaboration, then critique of the trading cards + 1:1 reviews.

2. wk 02hand

   ui elements + states

   ships: full ui kit
   • mon
     color for interfacesmaterial

     rgb vs cmyk, the wheel, schemes, meanings, 60-30-10, an accessible palette.

   • tue
     typography for interfacesmaterial

     type families, weights, line height, the type scale, pairing.

   • wed
     ui elements I: input controls + statesbuild

     buttons, inputs, toggles, pickers and the full state model, built as variants; a11y basics (contrast, targets, focus) seeded while building.

   • thu
     ui elements II: nav, informational, containersbuild

     navbars, menus, modals, toasts, cards, forms with auto-layout + variants.

   • fri
     ui kit assembly + critiquecritique

     assemble the full ui kit, states coverage check, group critique + 1:1.

3. wk 03hand

   design systems + tokens

   ships: figma library
   • mon
     design systems + tokens theorymaterial

     primitive vs semantic tokens, colour/type/spacing scales, naming, dark/light.

   • tue
     figma variables + modes labbuild

     variables, collections, modes, building dark and light from one source.

   • wed
     components at scale + layout gridsbuild

     props, variants, slots, grid types, layout grids inside a library; responsive basics (fixed/fill/hug) seeded here.

   • thu
     build the figma librarybuild

     assemble and publish the library, usage docs, token + component QA.

   • fri
     final project primer + discussiondiscussion

     intro the final project, pick and validate a startup idea, scope guardrails.

4. wk 04handeval 1

   prototyping + handoff

   ships: interactive prototype
   • mon
     the design blueprint: idea → dev-ready handovermaterialguest talk?

     the full studio process from brief to developer handoff, mapped to the project.

     optional: opens with a ~60 to 90 min guest tech talk if a speaker is confirmed.

   • tue
     prototyping in figmamaterial

     flows, triggers, overlays, smart animate, variables, micro-interactions.

   • wed
     prototyping labbuild

     build a multi-screen interactive prototype with realistic states + transitions.

   • thu
     developer handoff (figma-to-code)material

     dev mode, specs, token export, the dev-ready checklist.

   • fri
     eval 1 + project kickoffeval 1

     craft evaluation, then formal project kickoff and milestones for weeks 5-8.

5. wk 05brain

   ux fundamentals + a11y

   ships: heuristic audit
   • mon
     ui vs ux + good vs bad designdiscussionguest talk?

     the shampoo bottle, the pizza, what makes a design good vs bad.

     optional: opens with a ~60 to 90 min guest tech talk if a speaker is confirmed.

   • tue
     usability heuristicsmaterial

     the 10 heuristics, the evaluation method, severity rating.

   • wed
     accessibility + wcagmaterial

     wcag basics, contrast, targets, focus states, keyboard, screen readers.

   • thu
     heuristic audit labcase study

     team audit of a real product against the 10 heuristics plus a11y.

   • fri
     user flows + project work + critiquecritique

     user flows, apply the ux lens to the project, critique + 1:1.

6. wk 06brain

   research + product

   ships: teardowns + personas
   • mon
     the ux process + research methodsmaterial

     research, analysis, design, validation, and the methods behind each.

   • tue
     competitive teardownscase study

     tear down real products and competitors in your startup's space.

   • wed
     personas, user stories, storyboardingmaterial

     personas as the north star, user stories, storyboards for the project.

   • thu
     from research to structurematerial

     sketches, wireframes, mockups, information architecture, moodboards.

   • fri
     product thinking discussion + project workdiscussion

     problem framing, validate direction, critique + 1:1.

7. wk 07braineval 2

   ai workflows + responsive

   ships: ai-built dashboard
   • mon
     responsive + adaptive systemsmaterial

     fixed, fluid, adaptive, responsive, breakpoints, dashboard layout.

   • tue
     layout patterns + reading behaviormaterial

     z and f patterns, balance, hierarchy applied to dense ui.

   • wed
     ai in the design workflowbuild

     pro-literacy not anti-ai, prompting, design as the brief, an ai-built dashboard.

   • thu
     ai for research + project managementbuild

     ai to accelerate research synthesis and to plan + manage the project.

   • fri
     eval 2 + final sprint planningeval 2

     think evaluation, then plan the week-8 sprint to jury-ready.

8. wk 08proofjury

   final project + jury

   ships: case study + demo
   • mon
     case study storytelling + resumeworkshop

     structure a case study, portfolio narrative, resume to industry standards.

   • tue
     framer I: build + publish your portfoliobuild

     framer basics, import the project as a case study, publish live.

   • wed
     framer II: polish + case study pagebuild

     polish, responsive, custom domain, seo, certificate placement.

   • thu
     demo-day prep + rehearsalworkshop

     pitch structure, demo build, jury Q&A prep, a full dry run.

   • fri
     final jury / demo dayjury

     present to the three-judge jury (Julien Hosri + 2 surprise guests), graduation.

1. wk 03primer: pick + validate your startup idea.
2. wk 04kickoff: idea + scope only, map onto the blueprint, set milestones.
3. wk 05ux lens + your core user flow.
4. wk 06research, teardowns, persona, wireframe.
5. wk 07hi-fi screens, responsive, ai where it earns it.
6. wk 08case study, published portfolio, jury defense.

sequencing gate: weeks 3-4 are idea + scope only. no hi-fi on the project until the week-6 research is done, so every project runs research → design → ship.