A job in tech adjacent roles can be enticing—especially ones that are growing rapidly.
At the same time, the pathway toward obtaining one can be intimidating with so many education options that differ in price, format, and curriculum. This is embodied in the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) field.
UX refers to the broader journey an individual has with a product or service, whereas UI is focused more on the practical visual elements needed to facilitate that experience.
Web developer and digital designer roles will grow by 16% over the next decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The field is very popular among online learners who enjoy the added flexibility and working more on their own time. Thus, many top bootcamps offer programs in UI/UX or just UX design.
But with any pathway, sacrificing the time and money brings up an essential question: Is it worth it? Fortune has you covered on this topic for UX bootcamps.
Focused on all things design—at a lower price
Because of the somewhat niche nature of the UX field, educational pathways focused solely on the topic are few and far between. Students may be able to find classes within computer science, marketing, or communication departments that include design topics, but these may not provide an all encompassing education.
A few exceptions include Purdue University’s Polytechnic Institute—which offers an undergraduate degree in UX design. There's also schools like the University of Michigan and Arizona State University that offer master’s programs in the subject. All of these cost several thousands of dollars in tuition alone each semester, but may be cheaper depending if you have in-state residency status.
Bootcamps, on the other hand, may cost anywhere from about $7,000 to $17,000—focused solely on UX design and without any general education requirements that especially may be needed with undergraduate study. In some cases, this price is half what you may pay in just one semester at a university.
Rod Hinn is lead instructor of UX design at General Assembly. He says the field is a great combination of graphic design plus tech—adding students enrolling in its UX design bootcamp varies in terms of background. Some are straight out of high school or college. Others may be older adults, looking to upskill or a complete career change.
Emphasizing soft and hard skills
The shift to a skills-based hiring approach is front and center within UX careers. Some companies, like Amazon, have job opportunities in the space without degree requirements; others just included in the preferred section and place more of an emphasis on experience.
Emphasizing skills is really what bootcamps aim to do, Hinn says.
“Our offerings are really aimed toward here, this is what you do on the job. Let's practice that. And it's more kind of like a mentorship or internship even. And because some of our immersive programs, our bootcamps offer a chance to work with clients directly because that practical experience is so important,” he adds.
Hinn adds that as a UX designer, individuals need to have:
- Qualitative research skills, including knowing how to conduct interviews, write user scripts, make surveys, and analyze collected data.
- Practical design skills, including knowing how to use programs like Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, and Optimal Workshop while always keeping user-experience in mind.
- Soft skills including communication and working as part of a team.
While the specific programs and individualized skills may depend on the position and project, being flexible, adaptive, and willing to learn will help you go a long way in the field.
“In any profession, you need to be involved in a community. And that's what bootcamps offer, right? Because you're being involved, you're joining a cohort, and there is a heavy community-based learning experience. And those experiences have been found to be much more effective in terms of learning,” Hinn says.
Teams dedicated to helping you get a job
Many bootcamps offer mentorship and career services teams that help students build their resumes, network with employers, and hopefully land their next job.
Springboard even goes as far as offering a job guarantee program. If eligible students aren’t able to land a job within a certain time frame, a full refund is offered. But don’t get too excited—the policy may differ based on national unemployment rate as well as students’ location, background, and more.
When it comes to Springboard’s UX design program, over two-thirds of job-qualified individuals received an offer within six months of graduation, and students experience on average salary increases of $30,842 pre- and post-course, notes the company’s student outcomes report. The top hiring companies for the graduates include Amazon, Google, and CVS Health.
At General Assembly—which reports their data differently—over half of graduates were placed in a job within six months, according to the company’s latest outcomes report. Less than 5% of 2021 graduates from their full- and part-time UX design bootcamps were unsuccessful in landing a job and were actively trying to get one; others may have had family circumstances, did not engage with the job services team, or shifted careers.
What’s key to any educational pathway in UI/UX design is to have real-world experience that you can show to employers. Build out a portfolio with your work—whether its from personal experiments, classroom assignments, or past employment.
“The most important thing is to get your hands dirty and start working hands-on. A trick I usually suggest to juniors (not only in UX/UI but in general) is to work with open-source projects to gain some relevant experience on real-world software. Those projects are always looking to get an extra working hand and you will gain the experience on a real project,” says Ori Bendet, VP of Product Management at Checkmarx.
But above all, when considering going down a bootcamp route, emphasize what is most important to you, your family, and your career aspirations. There are almost endless ways to get ahead in the field.
