Is a UX Bootcamp Right For Me?
These are skills that will help you succeed
If you’re reading this, you’re probably thinking of enrolling in a UX Bootcamp.
I made this decision myself, not too long ago. I questioned what I needed to know about UX, if it was really the career for me, and if the financial investment would be worth it.
I want to share my take on how you can decide if a fast-paced bootcamp is a good fit for you, and what skills will serve you well.
No matter which boot camp course you pick, the pace is rigorous, and the volume of content can feel overwhelming. It’s a mental and physical feat of strength to get all the way through a bootcamp course. It can be very rewarding, but it’s also completely exhausting. That’s why you’ll emerge from a good quality boot camp transformed.
There’s a reason why they call it bootcamp, after all.
Over the course of three months, I thought about why some people pushed through to the finish, while a few dropped out. As a former teacher, I think about success rates, and think about what would have helped some of these students to complete the class. That problem solving is why I transitioned to UX in the first place.
Based on my own experience and observing and talking to about 35 classmates over 12 weeks, here are the characteristics most helpful to completing a remote, 12-week UXDI course:
1. You have a design background, tech background, and/or a critical thinking background
This includes visual/graphic designers, architects, engineers, teachers. Those who seemed to do best had some sort of previous experience that had a relationship to UX. They picked things up a little faster by comparison. Experience with Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, Photoshop, etc. was really helpful in designing with the speed necessary for a fast-paced course.
Likewise, if you have a background in social sciences or teaching, you’ll have a foundation in the ideas you’ll learn, which are grounded in design and human behavior.
2. You’re comfortable with uncertainty
A lot of people are very uncomfortable with not knowing what they’re doing. You’re expected to learn in an asymmetrical way. You’re doing as you’re learning, not learning and then doing. You won’t have all the pieces right away, but you’ll be doing it anyway. The result is not always pretty, but you will learn the techniques. Your projects may fall short of your expectations at first. You need to be okay with a win that looks like a fail, and not let it crush your self-esteem.
3. You can work on a team
You’re upfront and diplomatic. You let others do their part without stepping on their toes. You’re not seeking the limelight. You know which hills are worth dying on (if any).
You’re learning as a team. You’re working as a team. People get attached to their own vision for a product. Staying objective and being able to keep the product at the center of the process is hard sometimes, and you’ll want to leave the course with your professional relationships intact.
Problems working on teams are career kryptonite. You don’t want to put in a ton of work on a class and develop poor relationships before you even finish the class. Team work is a skill that will serve you well in your future job.
4. You’re reasonably comfortable with writing and analysis
Yes! Your high school English teacher was right when she said writing was an important life skill!
You’ll be doing a good amount of research, writing, and critical thinking to create designs that are thoughtful and user friendly. And you will have to write strong case studies for your portfolio to land a job. If you struggle with this, please reach out to your cohort and network for help. (There’s probably a career changing teacher in your class who can help!)
5. You have grit and determination
This is the one that’ll help you get through the most. Your course will probably be grueling, but it’ll be over in a few months, and you’re not going to let this opportunity pass you by. You’ll need laser-like focus to do the work, and the endurance to see it through, knowing it’ll be worth it. And it will be worth it.
Not having all of the above doesn’t mean you won’t succeed. But it helps to be aware of what you don’t know going in, so you can look for opportunities to improve on what you may be shaky on.
The decision to enroll in a bootcamp takes into account a lot of factors. Even though these are the skills I identified as being the most helpful, there are many other skills that are helpful.
