UX Design Schools, Bootcamps and Accelerated Programmes for New Designers
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Here is a list of popular sites that offer courses in design. I haven't used any myself, but these are the more well-known ones from what I've seen over the last few years. Many of them also come with a job garuantee:
DesignLab
DesignLab focuses primarily on UI and UX courses, and assign you a mentor who can guide you through it and prepare you for a career.
Learn UI/UX design skills with the help of an expert mentor through our unique online courses. You'll master the techniques you need to design stunning web and mobile products.
Springboard
Springboard offers a range of courses, and for design they have a 'Design Track' that actually guarantees you a job at the end of the course. I'm not sure how it works, but if anyone has any idea about the job at the end of it, please let us know.
General Assembly
General Assembly is probably the most well-known company of this type! You're guaranteed the highest quality education, with clients and hiring partners such as Google, Microsoft, and Visa. They are also probably the most pricey and offer employer sponsorship and payment plans to help you finance the course.
I think the best way to understand is to see the opinions of graduates who have taken the course. Here is a review from Lex walker, in the Prototypr publication
Hyper Island
Like Springboard, Hyper Island doesn't only offer design courses, but the design track it does offer has been quite popular. I came across it from seeing the articles of Hyper Island graduates around the web! For example, Dan Nessler is a Hyper Island graduate now working in design. Read his story here.
Hyper Island designs transformative learning experiences to enable growth – for individuals and for businesses. Unlike typical education or service providers, we follow a tried-and-tested methodology and a wide network of real industry experts. Through our global network of schools and business services, we put people at the heart of innovation, leadership and change – for success today and tomorrow.
Red Academy
Red Academy are based in Vancouver, but they have this International page which is worth investigating if you're nowhere near Canada. I'm adding them here since the case studies from their students have been impressive, such as Ying Deng's StormBrain App.
Bloc
Bloc offers both a web developer, and a designer track for students, and also have a strong alumni of graduates who went on to start new careers and launch their own start-ups. That focus of getting you work after the course is another attraction, as they garuantee you a job within 6 months or you get your money back.
Career Foundry
Career Foundry also offer a job garuantee, where you'll get a job within 6 months of graduating, or they'll refund you the cost of the course. Their graduates have been hired by Facebook, Google, Apple, Paypal, BBC, and lots of big names.
IronHack
IronHack offer Web Development, UX/UI Design, and Data Analytics courses which can be taken as part of a 9 week full time bootcamp program, or a part-time program during 2 weekdays per week over 24 weeks.
They also focus on outcomes, stating that their graduates get hired in less than 3 months through their network of hiring partners.
They're also operating in many locations across the globe:
Conclusion
In all, the education provided in these courses is trusted by a lot of companies and they show great results in hiring. If you're interested a career in UX, I'd recommend first taking some free courses before jumping into one of these accelerators since they are a massive commitment! Also, you might see some people criticise these courses because of the speed that you can go from zero knowledge to competing for junior level design jobs in a small space of time.
In reality though, the proof is in the results, and it's clearly a great way to shift your career and life into something you're more interested in. Not everyone gets on the right track first time around!
cc @KemiRufai, see these - I'll add some free course recommendations later!
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@Graeme this is packed and so needed for beginners. Thanks for sharing!
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