Design the shoe
Basketball players like a new shoe, but the heel slips during hard cuts and the shoe gets too hot. You study how players move, experiment with materials and construction, and build prototypes to improve it.
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A closer look at the consultation
From questions to a clearer direction.
See how comparing real work can sharpen a career question, and how the findings become a plan for what to explore next.
The questions
What about the work draws you in?
These examples compare different kinds of work within one industry, then explore similar work in another setting. Students consider how appealing each assignment sounds and explain why. Each new round grows from earlier responses.
Condensed from questions used in a previous consultation and arranged here to illustrate the comparisons. Reflection prompts have been added for this example.
First, compare two kinds of work
Develop the campaign
A new basketball shoe performs well and looks good. You develop the creative concept connecting the shoe, the athlete, basketball culture, photography, video, and advertising into a memorable launch.
Which assignment would you rather spend your time on? What parts attract you, and what parts would you enjoy less?
Then, change the setting
Design the suitcase
A travel company wants to rethink the carry-on suitcase. You study how people pack and move through airports, explore structures and mechanisms, experiment with materials, and build prototypes.
Develop the brand
A travel company has good luggage but little sense of identity. You decide what the brand should represent, which travelers it should speak to, and how a new campaign could express that identity.
Does your preference hold when the product changes? What makes either assignment more or less appealing now?
The findings
How the evidence becomes a direction.
This student came to the consultation questioning whether a creative career still made sense. These selected excerpts from a sample report show the recommendations, the reasoning behind them, and ways to investigate further.
Selected excerpts · Career Fit Report
A direction supported by the findings
The evidence collected through your surveys, interview, and existing work supports Advertising and Branding and Industrial Design as the two most promising career pursuits. UX Design is a third supported option. These recommendations reflect the creative contribution, kinds of problems, and working style you described. They give you a direction for your education while preserving a choice of industries and workplaces.
Sample report, page 16
What supported the recommendation
You gave all five branding scenarios in the second survey your highest rating. Branding won the separate comparisons for music technology, travel, and basketball training. In the interview, you wanted to help develop the commercial’s concept and storyboard, including how its images and sound would work together.
Your first survey was more varied. The musician’s creative identity and shoe campaign appealed strongly, while the basketball league identity drew less interest. The assignment and audience still matter, even within this promising direction.
Sample report, page 5
Looking at the everyday demands
Technical revisions, dimensions, failed prototypes, and material constraints sounded relatively tolerable in physical design. Detailed video editing held less appeal than developing the campaign concept. Your response to detail seems connected to whether you care about the problem it helps solve.
Sample report, page 4
Keeping another possibility open
At a sneaker company, you preferred working with the shoe itself to creating the app around it. You also said you would like digital work in another setting, such as a hotel. That answer leaves UX open. It helps identify circumstances in which a physical product has a stronger pull.
Sample report, page 7
Putting the findings to use
Existing work from your clothing line can make these conversations more specific. Show a few designs and describe the steps you have taken with suppliers. Ask which professional roles handle similar work and what skills would help you take the next step.
Sample report, page 11
Use your course assignments and clothing project to compare actual experience with the preferences identified in the consultation. Existing designs, class critiques, and supplier correspondence provide the material. Notice where the work confirms the recommendation, reveals a useful distinction between roles, or gives you a reason to adjust direction.
Sample report, page 15
These are selected passages, not a complete report. Each consultation investigates the student’s own question, interests, experiences, and circumstances.
What would help your student decide?
We can start with a free 15-minute conversation about the decision ahead and whether this consultation would help.
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