Facilitating Industry Exposure and Learning for Design Students Through a Digital Mentorship Platform

This paper aims to develop a digital platform that serves as a bridge between design students and industry mentors, which would help students gain early exposure to the industry. In the current education system, it is common to encounter students who are uncertain about their future in the design field. Whether it is students in their initial semesters struggling to pick which design field to specialise in or students in their final year who will soon be exposed to the industry and are unsure of what to expect and where to apply. Approximately 3.8% of Arts and Design graduates in the UK are unemployed, with an additional 10.9% engaged in part-time work. It is noteworthy that these statistics align with global trends observed in the field. A portion of the unemployment issue can be attributed to the lack of skills in students. The rising number of institutes that have begun offering a bachelor’s degree in design has led to a scarcity of experienced design educators, many of whom have little to no experience in the industry. Consequently, teaching and learning resources are subpar, and opportunities for industry exposure are limited. The same was inferred after conducting extensive research in the form of surveys, interviews, and literature studies. An integrated PSS (Product-service system) framework for connecting industry-based mentors to design students is proposed. A smartphone application is prototyped to validate the framework. This app is evaluated for 30 users based on convenience, interactivity, technical feasibility, and connectivity. The application also holds promise for future enhancements through the integration of artificial intelligence, enhancing personalisation and customisation, which will connect mentors with students who share similar fields of interest.