Last week, we hosted a panel at Facebook for design interns.

Now, without fail, one of the most common questions that comes up in panels like these is: what skills should I acquire/classes should I take if I want to be a product designer in the future?

Generally the answer I (and most other panelists) tend to give is that it’s not really worth stressing about this. Most of the skills that you need, you’ll learn on the job. Really, the point of going to school is getting good at the skill of learning how to learn. Technologies change. Photoshop won’t be the tool of choice forever. Programming languages and platforms fall in and out of fashion like flannel and thick-rimmed glasses. Be curious, be diligent, and don’t be afraid to read/watch/listen and make. Learning how to learn is the meta-skill that reaps rewards forever.

But. It strikes me that this probably isn’t the answer the person who was asking the question was looking for. When someone asks what skills or classes they should take to learn to be a product designer, it’s a safe assumption that what they’d like is, you know, a practical list of skills and classes.

So here goes. If I had a time machine and could travel back to when I was in college, knowing what I know today, here’s what I’d whisper in Young Julie’s ear when she sat down with the hefty course guide and the program sheet full of obscurely numbered classes to best prepare her for the future task of designing software for people.