I’m A UX Bootcamp Grad Who Hates UX Bootcamps

Ah, ye olde “is a UX bootcamp worth it” dilemma that has rocked the user experience design world. Are they good? Bad? A mixed bag? Are people being gatekeepers and holier than thou by demonizing them? My answer to these questions.. yes!

Like all things in life, it’s complicated! Not all bootcamps are made the same, and some are better than others.

Here’s a little bit about my journey into the world of user experience design.

My UX Journey

Back in 1999, I graduated from The University of Illinois and Urbana-Champaign with a BFA in graphic design. At the time, there were only two web design courses at the university. I had an amazing instructor, Colleen Bushell, who worked on the first visual web browser, Mosaic at U of I whose team went on to work on both Netscape and Internet Explorer.

I didn’t use my print skills much, all I did was web/digital. Some “design leaders” will say web design is not UX, but web designers create digital user interfaces that people interact with that have an experience. It maybe a BAD experience with no or little research, but it is a user experience.

My last big project at Follett Higher Education before I was laid off (after 7 years of service!) was being the UI designer on a UX design project.. Redoing…