Product Design

Product design is the discipline that bridges the gap between human needs and the objects and experiences that serve them. It encompasses both physical and digital products, asking how things should look, how they should work, how they can be made sustainably and responsibly, and what experience they create for the people who use them. Product designers draw on engineering, ergonomics, materials science, visual communication, and user research to develop solutions that are simultaneously functional, beautiful, and manufacturable at scale.

At Leeds this three-year full-time degree brings creativity and technical thinking together across the full design process, from user insight and concept creation to detailed design and production. You will develop skills in both physical and digital product design, learning to work with consumer goods, electronics, software, and apps as your studies progress. The programme includes a sandwich year providing substantial professional experience in a product design or related industry role, a year abroad that extends your design education internationally, and work placement opportunities throughout.

Leeds's strong connections to the design industry and its location in a city with a vibrant creative economy provide additional professional context.

Graduates go on to careers as product designers, industrial designers, UX designers, user experience researchers, design managers, and in many other roles across consumer goods, electronics, healthcare devices, transportation, and the digital economy. The combination of creative, technical, and commercial skills that the degree develops is sought after by a wide range of employers. Many graduates also continue to postgraduate study in product design, industrial design, or related fields, and the integration of the sandwich year and year abroad at Leeds ensures graduates enter the job market with genuine professional experience.