Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Bethany Riebock Image by Joe Shillington

In my first-ever Medium post, I shared how I discovered UX (user experience) design. I promised to follow up on how I decided to study it, and so here we are.

As I mentioned previously, I had known for quite a while that I was ready to move on from my career in speech pathology. I was so intensely motivated to make a change that I founded a Facebook community for like-minded colleagues. It has since attracted nearly 4,000 members and has been mentioned here, here, and on a subreddit. Founding and growing the community has been a great motivator in continuing my career transition.

After discovering UX, I felt that my personality, intellectual needs, career goals, and professional experience were quite the blissful match. In a nutshell, I’ve always been a problem-solver redesigning my everyday work and personal life to make my experiences more efficient or enjoyable (or both).

Once I sat with that insight for a moment, I decided to take action and began studying UX.

Here is the process I followed:

First, I started with books.

I read and read. And read again. I used the power of my local library. Even though it may seem obvious to many library-goers, years ago I discovered that it’s possible to request books that aren’t on the local shelves but may be stocked at a sister site, at a university, within the entire state, or even out of state.

Getting started is as simple as pulling up your library’s catalog and searching “UX” and “user experience” and the broader term “design.” What do you find? What foundational books are missing? Are some or many of the books available on your library’s reader app (mine are!)? Once you find out what’s available, it’s easy to cross-reference content and reviews on Amazon.

Second (eh, kind of simultaneously), I started with blogs and online articles.

If you’re anything like me, you can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of content and noise on the internet about any specific subject. UX is no exception. A few good places to start are:

The UX Notebook

UX Beginner

UXdesign.cc

Searching Medium

In the amount of time it takes a webpage to load, you’ll be inundated with a resource avalanche.

Third, I used the power of social media.

I joined several UX Facebook groups. I introduced myself to share my goals and intent in participating in the group. I contributed where I could (give more than you take, when you can).

You’ll be inundated with resources and ideas in these groups. I understand that Twitter is considered the social media platform of choice for UXers, but I feel that a sense of community is better fostered in Facebook groups, especially when you’re just getting started.

Here are a few groups that I recommend:

UX Beginner: Design Community

The UX School

UI/UX designers

Fourth, I started talking to people.

Thanks to my line of work in healthcare, I’ve learned the art of breaking the ice with complete strangers in all kinds of situations. People are very busy (or appear to be so), and so I recommend that you are intentional and concise with your questions.

Try not to overwhelm them with your backstory. Or, if your backstory is posted somewhere online, link to that so they can review it separately.

I’ve made many valuable and meaningful contacts by simply reaching out and being vulnerable (a.k.a., asking for help).

Fifth, I started reading about UX bootcamps (and continued to talk to people).

After getting a better handle on timelines and understanding how critical it is to have a basic portfolio in order to score your first internship or “real” job, I decided that I wanted to use a bootcamp as a catalyst to accelerate my learning and career transition.

I first started reading reviews of various UX bootcamps at Course Report. If there were verified reviews, I made it a point to reach out to those people via Facebook groups and LinkedIn to hear more about their experience and “where are they now.”

Next, I reached out to several bootcamps and took advantage of their free resources, whether that was a syllabus PDF download or 10-day email campaign to learn about UX.

If you do decide to go the bootcamp route, you must, I repeat MUST, speak with an admissions counselor.

The intent is that it will give you a better idea about the current dynamic of the program, their expectations, and clarification on any concerns you may have.

I spoke with one counselor who had a weird vibe and seemed a bit checked out during our conversation. A few weeks later I learned that he had quit. Although I spent no more than a cumulative hour on the phone with him, it didn’t give me the confidence to choose their program. I ended up going with a competitor.

Most importantly, I made a decision and acted on it.

Let’s face it. When you’re trying to make a change, it’s incredibly easy to spin your wheels and play the analysis paralysis game.

A few days turn into a few weeks. A few weeks turn into a few months. Before you know it, it’ll be a few years before you make a change.

I understand wholeheartedly that making this kind of change involves money, whether that means reducing your income temporarily to focus on your studies and/or paying thousands of dollars for a program.

Use your problem solving skills as a budding UX designer to make informed choices (e.g., consider tuition guarantees, payment plans, prorated refunds, etc.). Even if your experience doesn’t turn out to be what you expected, you can still give yourself credit in that you made the leap. Reflect on what you learned during that process.

At the time that I’m writing this post, there have been a lot of changes since I enrolled in a bootcamp, including shifting my focus to learning at Udemy and working through the course content at University of Michigan’s MicroMasters Certificate in UX Research and Design.

I plan to share some tips in a future post about my bootcamp selection process and student experience.

Thank you for reading! Please click the 💚 and comment so others may benefit from crossing paths with the content. Follow me to keep in touch for future posts. I’m happy to answer any questions or expand on the different aspects of my journey in the comments section below.

How I Decided to Study UX Design was originally published in prototypr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How I Decided to Study UX Design

Cool stuff, every week

More Articles