The ups and downs of my UX Bootcamp experience

Hello, big world of the internet!

This is my first post and would like to start by reflecting on the past 14 weeks at General Assembly’s UXDI Course. I started the course in Singapore in March 2020. Most of my classmates, including myself, were career transitioners and thus adult learners. I didn't really expect the standards to be very high in order to pass.

But… We had failures. 😱 For the first 2 projects, if you fail the first time, you get a redo but if you fail the redo, you're out. Which is good because it shows that General Assembly (GA) does have standards and just because you throw money at them doesn't mean that you will pass.

It was a reality check and there was a possibility that you may not be good enough. Failure wasn’t an option for me and I guess it wasn't for a lot of us who made the leap to actually quit our jobs to pursue this.

Minus those who failed, dropped out because they realised UX is not for them and those who transferred to a later batch, 16 of us finally graduated.

The 16 survivors and our 3 captains + 1 administrator that navigated us through the course

The Ups

1. There are many little activities and discussions during the lectures, so you are immediately trying to apply what you learn.
2. Having a group of fellow newbies to have as support and friends in the UX industry.
3. Being able to produce a portfolio at the end of the course with a minimum of 4 projects (3 class project and 1 pro-bono client project).
4. Having 3 instructors to guide and stimulate discussions and challenge your thinking and designs.

The Downs

1. This is a course not for the faint-hearted, you will be sleep-deprived, deprived of your freedom on the weekends. It is UX design, all day, all night.
2. Because of COVID, we didn’t get to have hiring events, office tours or portfolio showcase. Basically, everything in-person was cancelled including classes at the GA campus. On the bright side, I got really comfortable with video conferencing and being very aware of when the camera was on (I had some close shaves)
3. Also, coming from a science background and a company that was pretty black and white, there was a right and wrong answer. In UX design, it depends. My brain had to deal with the fact that a lot of times there was no right answer. It depended on if you are solving the problem and your thinking and reasoning behind your decisions. It didn’t matter how beautiful your end product was but if you didn’t solve the problem, it is not going to work.

The phrase “it depends” was something I heard a lot.

Would I do it again? Yes. I have read many articles where they say you don’t need a degree or certification to be a UX designer. While they may be true, I know that doing it on my own would be very challenging for me.

I thrive on the looming deadlines and the fact that I have a group of people that I have to be accountable to especially during group projects. Had I done it on my own, I might actually give up or take a lot longer than I should.

Initially, I was worried that I would miss the lifestyle I was accustomed to commanding a certain pay. But actually, I didn't really miss it. Well also maybe because of the lockdown there wasn't an opportunity to do it anyway but I didn't crave it either.

Perhaps that is why when unhappy/not fully satisfied in a job and have decent pay, end up trying to buy your happiness with great meals, trips and things. But when you are happy doing what you are doing, you don’t need the fluff. Not to say I never want a high pay or that's not important to me, but if I am to get the high pay, I would also very much like to be happy.

So I thought about my worst-case scenario. Was it that bad? What would I lose? But what would I gain? What are the risks of going? What are the risks of staying?

This is only the first part of the journey and there are a number of mountains to climb. Especially the first mountain of getting that first job. But I look forward to it, there is so much hope and dreams to be fulfilled.

I have been amazed time and time again in my short time after taking the dive into UX. The global UX community has been overwhelmingly supportive and helpful. Extremely experienced people are volunteering their time to mentor, network and provide help in any way they can. Perhaps it is specifically because UX designers are empathetic that they extend such generosity because they know or can empathize with fellow struggling UX designers. Just 14 weeks in and I have so many people to look up to, learn from and bounce ideas off.

I want to sign off with a mantra that Susanne Arfelt shared on the last edition on Christina Teo’s Women Change Makers @ Lunch. It is encouraging, comforting and aspiring, something I want to remember during this journey: I am learning so much, I am getting better.