PROCESS OF IDENTIFYING AND CONSOLIDATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR DESIGN STUDENTS: A TRANSITION TO PROFESSIONAL LIFE

In every professional training process, university students receive knowledge about the activities specific to the discipline they are studying. Additionally, they are often exposed to professional practice in various ways, more so in some fields than others, until they complete the curriculum established by the university. The case of the Bachelor's degree in Design at Tecnológico de Monterrey is no exception, as students start by carrying out projects under full instructor guidance while gradually becoming more independent until they reach the point where they must propose the project they will undertake and describe all the methodology and management processes as if they were already a freelance designer or a design studio. In this context, the present research identifies the key elements that designers develop before graduating to secure their first design opportunities. To achieve the main objective of this research, a study was conducted with 43 students of the Design Bachelor's program at Tecnológico de Monterrey who graduated in 2023 and 2024. Through a multi-case study, the process these students followed in the last project course of their program was determined to identify their first professional opportunities and consolidate one of them through a real project. As part of the research, the various reports presented by the students were analyzed and compared using affinity diagrams and cross-data comparison related to brand identity, strategic planning, opportunity identification, project management, design process, and communication. This allowed for the creation of a proposed process that facilitates the professional launch for product designers.