The application for Delta Class has closed. Epsilon Class application will open in Apr 2024. For more information about our design apprenticeship program, read on.

You might be interested to learn more about our program. Here’s what we’ll cover:

Our team of UI and UX designers

About the Design Apprenticeship

Stampede’s Design Apprenticeship is the brainchild of our design team to help fresh graduates and new designers learn and practice design so that they can acquire relevant work experience to prepare them for a solid career in the design industry.

As this is a full-time position, we’re not accepting applications from part-timers or non-Malaysians at the moment.

Successful completion of the apprenticeship may lead to a permanent design position at Stampede.

Apprentices will also receive certification and endorsement for career opportunities with organizations who love working with Stampede designers, like PETRONAS, Intel, CIMB, Dropee and many more.

Looking to sponsor?

If you represent an organization who would like to sponsor and support our Apprenticeship Program, let’s get in touch.

What happens if I become an apprentice?

The apprenticeship is a 6-month, full-time, paid program and an apprentice will receive RM2,800 per month. EPF, SOCSO and EIS are included.

Balancing learning and practice

Apprentices’ time will be split between:

  • 50% off-the-job learning
    You will receive focused classes and assignments in user research and UI design along with building you own product case study
  • 50% on-the-job practice
    You will be part of our project team and receive guidance in design execution by experienced designers
Design career skill

Throughout their 6 month journey, apprentices will learn critical design career skills like:

  • How to plan research and interview users the right way
  • Translating user research to actionable insights for stakeholders
  • Fundamental principles of design (our New York Times deconstruction is a great start)
  • Design execution with speed and precision
  • Designing interfaces with the future in mind
  • How to work effectively in a team but also independently as a designer
  • Collaborating closely with designers and non-designers alike
  • Using design methods to get unstuck (we highly recommend this lifehack)
  • Managing your wellbeing as a growing designer
Mentorship

Each apprentice will be assigned to a design mentor who will provide active guidance throughout the journey. This mentorship will be by a designer, for a designer. We will not have it any other way.

Graduation

As a requirement for graduation, you will be working on designing your own product, where you get to experience the entire design process from research to design to testing. On your last day, a graduation ceremony attended by your peers will be held to celebrate this achievement, signifying that your rite of passage is now complete.

Upon graduation, Apprentices will be inducted into the Apprentices’ Guild and featured on our website.

p/s: We’ve been told there will be Guild Town Halls.

Stories from the Guild Check out our Alpha apprentice Chee Seng’s three-part apprenticeship experience blog post. We also believe in continuous learning from others inside Malaysia and in ASEAN, which is how we met our uber-apprentice from the Philippines, Brian Tan.

A peek at life at Stampede

The place to make global design impact

The team at Stampede is well-known for their ability to bridge design strategy and execution. We have worked with over 120 clients in 20 countries all around the world, creating a positive impact in products and services we design.

In fact, you might already be using some of our design solutions in your daily life; for example, the online banking system you pay your bills with, or the e-wallet app on your phone and the RFID lane you take to work everyday.

A few of our clients from all corners of the world

What sets our designers apart is their deep curiosity for the problem. They get to the heart of the issue by speaking with users and working closely with product teams. But it doesn’t stop here. We strive to construct smart and sustainable solutions with the future in mind, enabling us to create lasting and positive impact through design on a global scale.

There are currently 13 designers in our team of varying backgrounds, skill levels and experience. We practice design all the way from big vision and service design strategy to interaction design and down to the last atomic style in our design library. Talk about range.

✅ Who is eligible to become an apprentice?

Quite positively, anyone with a serious interest in design. We encourage fresh graduates or professionals looking to switch into UI/UX who are:

  • Malaysians
  • Passionate to pursue a career in design
  • With full-time commitment to the apprenticeship
  • Can write and speak well in English
  • Can provide a UI/UX design case study
Now about that case study…

A case study helps you show us how you solve a problem from start to completion. It outlines the problem, shows your solution, and explains your approach. Good case studies usually share the following structure:

  • The Problem
    A background of the problem and the project goal
  • The User
    Who is facing this problem and what value will it give them if solved
  • The Solution
    Your proposed solution and an explanation of how it solves the problem.
  • The Process
    An unpacking of what you did to arrive at the solution e.g. user interview, wireframes, UI design, testing etc
  • The Learnings
    What went well and what can be improved
Tips

Here are several tips to help you craft that case study well:

  • Choose one project that shows your best design work
  • Take the time to share why this project is of interest to you
  • Write for your reader – they may not have preliminary information about the project so walk them through it
  • Write as clearly as possible and in your own voice
  • Caption your images so we know what we’re looking at
  • Show the work-in-progress – your sketches, wireframes, user interview notes etc
  • If it takes teamwork, give credit and explain your role
  • Share your key takeaways and learnings – mistakes are how we all learn

What is the application process like?

We’re just as excited to meet our Delta class too, so we’ve outlined the process for you.

Application
Applications for Delta Class is closed.

Screening
Our design team will go through your applications, read through your answers and stroke imaginary beards over your case studies. This takes around a week.

Design bootcamp
Shortlisted applicants will then be invited to our remote design bootcamp so you get to meet our designers and learn a good deal about design and problem-solving together. There will be group exercises. Bonus: Fireside session with our Apprentices’ Guild. This will be spread over 2 Saturdays, half-day each.

Delta Class announcement
Within a week after the bootcamp, we will select 2 successful candidates and contact them to offer the apprenticeship baton. This is the hardest part for us, because we see everyone worked so hard to earn this. If anyone declines, the next person on the list will automatically get the slot.

The apprenticeship begins!
Our team will welcome Delta class with pomp and excitement. They will be given a first-day onboarding by our Ops team, followed by mentor assignment and The Stampede Way welcome talk by Shaza Hakim, our UX principal and a designer herself. The apprentices will then receive a Journey Plan to chart their next 6 months, and they will be off on their quest to seriously level up their design game.

We hope this offers transparency into the process but if you need more info, please write to us.

All set?

The clock is ticking and the rocket ship is waiting. Time to get on board! ????

See you soon, Delta Class!

Shaza Hakim

Shaza Hakim
UX Principal at Stampede

About Stampede

Stampede is a UX agency based in Malaysia, founded in 2006 with a distributed team in Malaysia and the Philippines. We work with many products, enterprises and startups, locally and internationally. We’re solving problems across many different vertices and our design solutions touch millions of users.

Our UX clients include PETRONAS, CIMB, Touch ‘n Go, MaGIC, Katsana, MDEC, Malin+Goetz, Piktochart, PurelyB, Recommend.my, Joota, Australian city councils, and Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, among plenty others. We write about our work and design process extensively and we’re also part of UX Malaysia too.