First, I wanted to make a clear disclaimer: I did not get sponsored/paid by any company or bootcamp to write this article. I will reflect my personal experience at a 16 week bootcamp in UX/UI design and how it changed my life. Furthermore, I will give some tips on how you can choose the right bootcamp.

Why a bootcamp?

I selected a bootcamp over other courses for several reasons, but the main one was because it was a way to learn UX/UI from the scratch, with condensed classes from industry professionals and I could complement it with my work.

The bootcamp was face-to-face and part-time, so the alumni could work while studying at the same time. Furthermore, it was a way to do networking and meet new friends.

How was the bootcamp structured?

Next, I am going to relate how the process was, but consider that every bootcamp has its own method.

The bootcamp followed the method of design thinking. For each specific topic, an industry professional on matter came to speak about it. The teachers gave us the theory we had to know and told us personal experiences that happened to them. They also taught us the best practices for every part of the process so we could apply it to our projects.

The bootcamp was divided into 5 modules: UX research, UX design & Information Architecture, UI design & design systems, Prototyping & user testing and finally other skills as speech classes or portfolio building.

We organized ourselves in groups of 4 to 5 people and selected some topics that we liked. With this information, we had to find problems that we detected on users through data and user interviews. Once we had a given problem validated with real users for a selected topic, we had to find a digital solution to solve it. The most amazing part was the user testing, the school found real users (given our necessities) and we tested our prototypes with them. We were able to get real insights from their feedback.

You mix theory and practice and you are able to apply most of the skills you learn. It is very practical, “hands on” and you learn a lot in a very short time. But that means that it is intense and requires a continuous involvement of the student. In my case, it was not a problem to combine it with a job, and more so if you follow the teachers’ footsteps.

My experience in the bootcamp was very positive. The teamwork among the classmates was excellent, the teachers were very involved, both inside and outside the classrooms and the final projects were amazing. Most of the students were also really happy with the classes and all have found a job little by little, with effort and some luck.

In addition, the school organized events with professionals in different fields, that you could attend and connect with them. The bootcamp was an awesome tool for networking and meeting new people, I made some friends there and even got a job through the referral of a teacher.

But not everything was positive, there were some things that could have been better and they should improve as the selection of the students. As I mentioned, cooperation between the alumni was good, but there were some teams that had serious problems with members that did not help. It was solved by the teachers but it downgraded the experience as it affected the class. A bootcamp is demanding and it’s not for everybody, you will need to sacrifice much time and effort to be able to succeed with it. I was lucky that in my team everybody contributed to make a great product, and I even established a good friendship with them.

A bootcamp is a good way to start learning UX/UI, but after it you will be far from being able to get accepted in job offers. You need to keep working and learning to get into the industry. I was lucky to get a job a month after the bootcamp, but I also took the hard decision of leaving the current job I had while at the bootcamp to focus on studying full-time to accelerate the process.

My experience after the bootcamp

A month after, I started working as a product designer in a big company thanks to the referral of a teacher, to whom I will be forever grateful. I had to learn a lot of internal processes, new software and new skills related to UX/UI, but the bootcamp served as a strong base for my incorporation.

I even go back to my notes when I have doubts about something specific. If I don’t find the solution I search online, but if I keep having doubts, I just ask my peers, that are always keen to help me. Working as a UX/UI has been as I expected, and it has been a life changing decision.

Tips for choosing the right bootcamp

Selecting the right bootcamp is an important choice, as they tend to be expensive and a bad decision can make you slow down into your path of becoming a UX/UI designer.

Take into consideration that bootcamps are not the only way to dive into UX/UI design. Currently, there is lot of paid and free courses that you can get access to to start learning how to create amazing digital products.

Before starting, do an extensive research of all the different alternatives you have around your city. There are lots of directories where you can find all kind of courses. Not all bootcamps focus on the same topic, some focus on the design process while other deep dive into a specific part. My bootcamp was heavily founded on Research, even though other parts were taken into consideration aswell.

Search information about the bootcamps on different places as google reviews, course report or career karma. You will find the perspective of people who have finished the same bootcamp you are about to enroll. If needed, you can ask previous students to solve your questions, you can search them through LinkedIn.

Another important aspect is your intuition, if you see something shady from the beginning, it’s possible that is for a valid reason. One aspect why I rejected other bootcamps was their website, it was full of bugs, and I asked myself “how will they teach me how to design digital products if they can’t do it for themselves?”. Other aspects were the advisors, some of them lacked professionalism, and were not able to tell me about the program we were about to follow.

The bootcamp schools normally have strong marketing campaigns and techniques that may make you rush into your decision. Do not fall for it, take your time to think about what’s best for you and do not fall under “sales” and discounts . If you need more time to take a decision, tell them. Ask lots of questions. Seriously, do. They are free and its better asking something before you are enrolled than after or while in the process. It can save you from being upset.

To close, I totally recommend everybody joining a professional bootcamp to start their UX/UI journey. It’s an awesome starting point to kick off your design career where you will meet awesome people and will learn the skills to start developing your career.