From Zero to UX Hero

UX design is a rapidly growing career field, and there are many different paths aspiring designers can take to land a UX role. One of the most popular paths is the UX design bootcamp. If you are in the tech field, you likely have seen ads for various types of bootcamps that promise to land you a new career in as little as 6 months. These bootcamps are accelerated programs that focus on job readiness, whose sole purpose is to get students up to speed on current industry skills and practices. Many of these bootcamps promote their alumni job acquisition rate as a unique selling point as well.

As a UX design bootcamp graduate who successfully landed a UX design role, I am often asked if bootcamps are worth the investment for aspiring product designers. There isn’t a cut and dry answer to this question, but after a year into my first UX design job, I have a good sense of the pros and cons.

For a little background, I got my undergrad in New Media and Digital Design, which included classes in design, front-end development, marketing, and art. I then worked as a graphic designer for several years before deciding to make the transition to UX. After researching my options, I elected to take CareerFoundry’s UX design course and landed a role as a UX Design Associate at Livefront before I fully completed my program.

The advantages and disadvantages of UX design bootcamps laid out below stem from my own experiences and conversations with industry professionals. I think we can all learn from each other’s experiences, but as you read, take my insights with a grain of salt and reflect on how they may or may not apply to you. After all, this is based on my journey breaking into the UX design field, and yours might look different.

Advantages of UX bootcamps

Job readiness

UX bootcamps take a hands-on approach to UX skills and portfolio building. Compared to the design classes I took in college, I found the bootcamp curriculum to be much more practical, and the material contained a lot less “fluff”. I can confidently say that after a year into my professional UX career, the majority of the bootcamp course skills were highly applicable to the real world.

Additionally, bootcamp curricula emphasize portfolio development, which is arguably the most crucial aspect of getting hired as a UX designer. My UX bootcamp went as far as to recommend different platforms to host a portfolio online and included a thorough peer and mentor review process. I remember being overwhelmed when I was putting my first graphic design portfolio together with little to no guidance, so the fact that bootcamps focus on portfolios is highly beneficial for those transitioning into the design field.

Mentorship

Many UX design bootcamps pair students with a mentor to support them throughout course enrollment. I found the mentorship to be one of the most valuable aspects of the entire UX bootcamp experience. Not only did I get professional feedback on my design work, but my mentor also gave me valuable insight into what hiring managers really look for in portfolios, helpful interview advice, and guidance on compensation negotiation. While everyone’s experience with the CareerFoundry mentorship program may vary, getting the most out of the relationship comes down to the student taking initiative. I recommend going to meetings prepared with questions and designs for feedback, and actively absorbing and applying the feedback thereafter. Creating a relationship with your mentor takes effort, but you never know what opportunities it could lead to down the road.

Structured learning

A common complaint about bootcamps that I’ve encountered is that they don’t contain any knowledge that you can’t find online for free. I do think this is a true statement, but I personally found that the structure and facilitation that my bootcamp provided was what I needed to effectively learn UX design skills.

When I was initially curious about making the transition from graphic design to UX design, I considered the self-taught route via books and YouTube. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and a UX bootcamp would help chart a course for my education. Now that I have a strong foundation of UX design skills, I can supplement my education via free resources when needed.

Limitations of UX bootcamps

Lack of admissions process and transparency

Since bootcamps don’t often have an admissions process, anyone can sign up and spend thousands of dollars on the course -– regardless of their suitability for the UX design field. As with any career field, certain personality types and skills are more likely to find success in certain fields. That is why organizations like universities, companies, and sports teams have admissions, interviews, and try out processes. From what I’ve experienced, it may be prudent for bootcamps to follow suit, especially because some crucial UX design skills (especially some of the soft skills I’ll expand on in the next section) are necessary to get hired but hard to teach in the context of an accelerated short course. Bootcamps don’t properly advertise this reality, and it does some students a disservice.

Lack of soft skill development

UX bootcamps are great for those who have previous experience with transferable skills, such as working with clients, code, or a visual design background. Despite coming from a visual design background myself, in my current job, I have specifically found interdisciplinary collaboration with developers and product managers to be a huge learning curve that I wasn’t prepared for in my bootcamp. In the real world, designing digital products is highly interdisciplinary, and there are many other factors, such as stakeholder input, development feasibility, and budgets, that go into launching a product. The templated bootcamp design process doesn’t always accurately depict what the design process looks like in the real world.

Lack of focus on visual design

This skill is so important, it deserves its own section. Even if you are a research-focused UX designer, beautifully showcased work is invaluable in helping you land an interview. From having conversations with hiring managers on product design teams, I’ve learned that this skill is not as teachable as UX. Due to the accelerated format, bootcamps don’t put enough emphasis on basic visual design fundamentals, such as balance, contrast, alignment, space, color, etc, which are critical in becoming a successful product designer.

Conclusion

While UX design bootcamps offer an accelerated path to entering the field, they come with their own set of advantages and limitations. The structure, hands-on training, mentorship, and focus on job readiness can be highly beneficial for those looking to make a swift transition into UX design. However, it’s essential to be aware of the potential gaps in soft skills development, the importance of visual design, and the fact that anyone can enroll regardless of their suitability for the field. Ultimately, whether a UX bootcamp is worth the investment depends on your individual background, learning style, and career goals. Reflect on your unique journey and consider how the insights I shared here might apply to your situation as you navigate your path to becoming a successful UX designer.

• Kasey Lacore

  Associate Product Designer

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