This text is concerned with defining the design skills of the future. It indicates the value of soft competences in design studies graduates which allow them to find their way in the complex and dynamically changing world and their future profession. This becomes a foundation for developing a profile of a design faculty graduate.
The included insights and conclusions are based on the review of professional literature, study of communication channels of global design companies, analysis of reports on the condition of design education and predictions about its development, close look at several tens of design academies and departments, conversations with design practitioners active in the field, academic teachers and students.
The considerations are summed up by proposing three groups a design graduate’s competences: open mind, systemic thinking, agile approach. These skills refer to the approach graduates take towards designs and their users as well as to the surrounding world.
Keywords: designer’s skills in the future, future of design education, agile design skills, agile design education