5 Things About UX Design You Would Not Learn from a Bootcamp

Photo by Jason Goodman on Unsplash

User Experience (UX) design has gained immense popularity as a career path, with many aspiring designers enrolling in bootcamps to kickstart their journey. While bootcamps offer valuable foundational skills such as design principles, tools, and processes, they don’t cover the entire breadth of real-world experience that comes with working in the field.

As a UX designer who has gone through this journey of transiting from a bootcamp to a real-life workplace, here are a few things about UX design that you likely won’t learn in a bootcamp, but will need to understand as you grow in your career.

1. The Subtle Art of Compromise

What bootcamps teach: Perfecting your designs based on ideal conditions (time, budget, tools).

What you don’t learn: In the real world, design often requires compromise. Design decisions are made within time and budget constraints, technical limitations, or conflicting business needs. You don’t always get to create your perfect design.

If the feature you design doesn’t align with the company’s strategic direction, it might not make it past whiteboarding. Sometimes, you’ll need to scale back or find creative solutions that meet both user needs and business objectives. Balancing these objectives requires not only an empathy with the user, but also a strong understanding of the business, resources constraints, and stakeholder management.

Learning how to navigate these compromises while still creating an effective, user-centered experience is a skill that can only be honed with real-world experience.

2. Stakeholder Communication and Negotiation

What bootcamps teach: The technical side of design — user research, wireframing, prototyping, and testing.

What you don’t learn: Navigating the complex world of stakeholders. At bootcamps, you might work on mock projects with fellow classmates and instructors, but real-world design work is often done in collaboration with multiple stakeholders both within and outside of your company — the product managers, software developers, business development team, your client and even your executives.

You’ll quickly realize that design decisions often come with a mix of opinions and priorities from these stakeholders. Some stakeholders may prioritize cost-saving over additional user research, while others may have misguided ideas of what’s best for user experience.

As the designer, it is your job to communicate your ideas clearly, justify the user-centered rationale behind your design choices, manage stakeholders’ expectations and negotiate compromises. Keep in mind that negotiation isn’t about “winning”, but finding a solution that everyone can buy into.

Your role as a UX designer isn’t just about creating the best user experience, but also managing stakeholder relationships — and handling the inevitable disagreements — which comes with time and experience.

3. The Importance of Iteration and Continuous Improvement

What bootcamps teach: A neat and linear design process — research, ideation, prototyping, testing.

What you don’t learn: Unlike in bootcamps, UX design in the real world is rarely a linear, one-and-done process. When I started working as a UX designer, I find myself circling back to research and revisiting solutions that I thought was already finalized. My “final” design is always subjected to change as new insight emerge or priorities shift.

I quickly learned that I need to be comfortable with ambiguity when I don’t have clear product requirements or the opportunity to speak to end users. I also have to adapt to changing requirements and be prepared to pivot quickly as new insights emerge.

Embracing the iterative nature of UX design, where you make small and continuous improvements over time, is the key to creating successful products that meet real user needs.

4. The Invisible Work: Documentation and Design Handoffs

What bootcamps teach: Creating UI design assets, wireframes and prototypes

What you don’t learn: Another aspect that bootcamps often neglect is documentation and design handoffs. We designers spend a lot of time and effort crafting pixel-perfect UI components, wireframes and prototypes, only to realise that the development teams did not understand our work well.

A clear and thorough documentation is critical for both future designers working on the file and ensuring that your designs are accurately implemented by the developers. I began the habit of putting sticky notes next to my mockup screens to give our developers more context and details about the UI and its interactions. During the handoff process, I would explain the user flows, edge cases and the rationale behind certain design decisions. This can ensure that the implementation matches my visions and the user experience remains intact.

Detailed documentation and comprehensive design handoffs can often be time-consuming, but it is a crucial part of the profession that must not be overlooked.

5. The Need for Emotional Resilience

What bootcamps teach: Instructors guide you through your project. They may lead the initial requirement gathering stage with your client, reviews your work periodically and make suggestions to improve.

What you don’t learn: I am always grateful to the instructors that I met at bootcamp because they built a safe space for me to explore my design and to build my confidence in my new found UX skills. Nonetheless, the reality is that my design will not always be loved, the user tests that I conduct may sometimes be unsuccessful, and not every feedback session will be kind.

Emotional resilience is required to thrive in the field as you will face criticisms, rejections and challenges from both users and colleagues. No matter how good you think your work is, you will have to put aside your ego and learn from criticism rather than taking it personally. Building thick skin and facing setbacks with a positive attitude will make you a more resilient designer.

Every failure is an opportunity to grow and improve.

The Path Beyond Bootcamp

While bootcamps can give aspiring UX designers a solid foundation, they only scratch the surface of what the field truly entails. The real learning happens on the job, as you navigate complex projects, work with diverse teams, and continuously adapt to ever-changing requirements.

The journey from a bootcamp graduate to a seasoned designer is filled with challenges that can turn into opportunities for growth. As you grow, you’ll discover that the most valuable lessons come from the ongoing process of design and refinement in the field. The best designers are those who embrace the learning process and never stop improving — not just in their technical skills, but in their ability to communicate, collaborate, and innovate.

Thanks for making it till the end! 😉 As an appreciation to you, my readers, here is a bonus for you:

Working in Agile or Scrum Environments

What bootcamps teach: The general design process — research, ideation, prototyping, testing.

What you don’t learn: How to work within Agile or Scrum frameworks, which are common in fast-paced software development industry. Agile methodologies require teams to work fast and flexible. You’ll need to plan your design process within sprints, manage backlogs, and adapt to rapidly changing requirements. While you are iterating quickly, it can be quite challenging to maintain a high-quality user experience at the same time.

It took my team a few sprints of trial and error to figure out what works the best in allowing us to keep to our timeline while not being overloaded or compromising the quality of our work. Always do your retrospective well and keep improving together as a team!

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