The course begins with Module 00 – Getting Started. In just a few lessons (~30 minutes), you’ll learn how to set up your environment, install an IDE, and get comfortable with GitHub. This module ensures you’re ready to dive into Module 01 – Why WDS Matters, where you’ll explore the paradigm shift that makes specifications central, not peripheral, to design. Together, these first modules set the foundation for creating your four deliverables and thriving in the AI era.

The designer’s crossroads

Designers today face a choice: continue producing outputs AI can replicate, or become linchpins whose creative thinking is indispensable. Traditional workflows—mockups, handoffs, repeat—are increasingly replaceable by AI.

Whiteport Design Studio (WDS) is a free, open-source course designed to transform designers from executing tasks into creating enduring systems. Created by Mårten Angner, founder of Whiteport (Sweden), WDS integrates AI agents to capture and preserve your design thinking, turning design decisions into immortal specifications, not lost mockups.

What you’ll learn: The four deliverables

The course guides you to produce four outputs that immortalize your creative brilliance:

1. Project Brief – Your strategic foundation: vision, goals, stakeholders, and constraints.
2. Trigger Map – Align user needs and business impact; prioritize features with purpose.
3. Scenario Specifications – Capture every design decision with AI as your creative partner.
4. Design System Foundation – Extract tokens, patterns, and reusable components to scale your work.

These deliverables shift you from being a mockup maker to a strategic designer whose thinking lasts.

Getting started

1. Start with Module 00 – Getting Started on the WDS GitHub repository.
2. Proceed to Module 01 – Why WDS Matters to understand the design paradigm shift.
3. Follow the course step-by-step to create your four deliverables (~10 hours total).
4. Join the community via BMad Discord or GitHub Discussions for feedback and support.

Cost: Free and open-source. AI credits are optional, ~$15–20/month for active use.

The choice is yours

Whiteport Design Studio isn’t just a methodology—it’s a career transformation.

Design becomes the specification. Specification becomes the product. Code is just the printout.

Start with Module 00, follow the course, and choose the path of the indispensable designer, whose creativity and strategic thinking cannot be replaced.

YouTube course link: https://youtu.be/qYPYx01YLUc