At a time when online presence defines success, the importance of user experience (UX) design has skyrocketed. Businesses are on the hunt for skilled UX designers who can create intuitive and engaging digital experiences that set them apart from the competition. UX design bootcamps provide an accelerated path to the skills and experience to succeed in this fast-growing field.
This article is your roadmap to choosing the best UX design bootcamp in 2024. We'll outline a career-ready UX design curriculum, weigh the costs and benefits, and highlight some of the best UX design bootcamps you can take online.
UX Design Bootcamp Overview
- Average Cost: $7,000 - $14,000
- Average Duration: 4 - 7 months
- Format: Live, instructor-led or Self-paced.
- Skill Level: Beginner to Intermediate.
| Compare The Best UX Design Bootcamps Online | ||
| School | Program | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Design Lab | UX Academy Bootcamp | 15-30 weeks |
| Springboard | UX Design Bootcamp | 6-9 months |
| BrainStation | UX Design Bootcamp | 12-34 weeks |
| Mento Design Academy | UX/UI Bootcamp | 6-9 months |
| Dribbble | Professional Diploma in UX Design | 6 months |
UX Design Bootcamp Curriculum
When choosing a UX design bootcamp, ensure the curriculum covers these beginner through advanced topics that employers are looking for:
UX Design Principles
The first step in your UX design training is understanding the core principles behind effective user experiences, including usability, consistency, hierarchy, context, and user-focused design.
User Research
In this part of a UX design bootcamp, you’ll learn about gathering data through qualitative and quantitative research to gain insights about user needs, behaviors, and motivations.
Wireframing and Prototyping
This vital skill involves creating simplified visual guides and interactive models of a product to test and refine its functionality, layout, and user experience. Popular wireframing and prototyping platforms include Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD.
User Interface Design
User interface (UI) design goes hand in hand with a good user experience (UX). UI training explores the principles of visual design applied to digital interfaces, focusing on layout, color, typography, and brand integration.
Usability Testing
This component of a user experience bootcamp focuses on the tools and techniques for testing designs with actual users to gather feedback and make continuous improvements.
Information Architecture
This course covers the structural design of information environments to improve user accessibility and understanding. A UX with a well-defined hierarchy and IA is vital for intuitive navigation and content organization.
Interaction Design
In this portion of your UX training, you’ll learn to create engaging interfaces with logical and meaningful interactions that drive user satisfaction. Interaction design consists of 5 dimensions: words, visuals, physical objects or space, time, and behavior.
User Experience Writing
Unlike marketing copywriting, which persuades users to take action, UX writing is about crafting clear and concise copy that guides the user through a product or service to optimize their experience.
Design Systems
This training module will explore the components that ensure consistency and efficiency across a product's user interface. Design systems are crucial for scaling products and maintaining a cohesive user experience.
Emerging UX Technologies
As with many tech-centric roles, UX design tools and techniques are evolving. Try to find a bootcamp that covers emerging technologies in UX design, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and voice user interface (VUI) integration.
UX Design Portfolio
Developing a portfolio of your design projects is essential, as this is how hiring managers will gauge your work. Only choose a UX design bootcamp where you build a well-rounded portfolio over the course of the program.
Benefits of UX Design Bootcamps
The major benefit of UX design bootcamps is their accelerated, career-focused curriculum, combining theory with hands-on projects to build your portfolio.
The best UX design bootcamps provide extensive career support, including portfolio reviews, job interview prep, mentorship, and networking opportunities with peers and employers.
Some UX design programs offer a job guarantee. This typically entails a promise that students who complete the program will get a job within a certain time period (usually 6-12 months upon graduation), or be refunded.
The top UX design bootcamps are created and taught by experienced professionals, providing first-hand insights into the tools, techniques, and best practices for industry success.
UX Design Bootcamp Cost
The average tuition range for a reputable user experience design bootcamp is $7,000 to $14,000. Factors that influence the cost of UX design bootcamps include whether the training is led by live instructors or self-paced, program duration, course material depth, the scope of tools and technologies you learn, program features like job guarantees, and the reputation of the training provider.
Many UX design bootcamps offer cost-saving programs like discounted upfront tuition, payment plans, scholarships, and loans, so speak with an admissions advisor to maximize your savings before enrolling - every little bit helps when starting a new career.
The Best UX Design Bootcamps Online
We chose the top 5 online bootcamps in UX design based on the relevance of the curriculum to workforce demands, program features, school reputation, flexibility, student outcomes, affordability, and overall value.
Here are the best UX design bootcamps you can take online in 2024:
Design Lab
With the company’s laser focus on UX design, Design Lab’s UX Academy tops our list of the best UX design bootcamps. UX noobs start with their 4-8 week UX Foundations Program to learn essential skills in UI/UX design and Figma. Experienced designers - or graduates of the foundations program - can enroll in their respected UX Academy, a 15-30 week online program featuring coursework in user research, information architecture, interaction design, UI design, prototyping, and more. UX Academy graduates build a diverse portfolio with four substantial projects to showcase their hard-earned skills.
- Duration:
- UX Foundations: 4-8 weeks
- UX Academy: 15-30 weeks
- List Price: $7,749
- Formats: Online
Springboard
Students with at least one year of relevant experience or education can enroll directly in Springboard’s UX Design Bootcamp, while total beginners can take the UI/UX career track program, which includes an introduction to UI/UX Design. This part-time online UX bootcamp covers hot topics like design thinking, ideation, information architecture, guerilla usability testing, interaction design, wireframing and prototyping, user research, and UI design. Students gain hands-on experience in popular UX platforms like Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, and InVision. Program features include personalized mentoring and career coaching, a world-class distance learning platform, and a job guarantee.
- Duration:
- UX Design Bootcamp: 6 months
- UI/UX Career Track: 9 months
- List Price:
- UX Design Bootcamp: $7,900
- UI/UX Career Track: $11,900
- Formats: Online
BrainStation
BrainStation’s UX Design Bootcamp is the most comprehensive program in our 2024 ranking. Students learn to use popular platforms like Figma, Tota11y, Stark, UX Check, ChatGPT, and Loom to create top-notch user experiences and interfaces. While it’s not the most affordable UX design bootcamp, its hyper-relevant curriculum and live, instructor-led format make it worthy of consideration. We also liked BrainStation’s incorporation of guest lecturers with diverse expertise into its UX design bootcamp, featuring top product and design talent from leading organizations like AWS, Airbnb, Google, Uber, and Patagonia.
- Duration:
- Full-Time: 12 weeks
- Part-Time: 34 weeks
- List Price: $16,500
- Formats: Online or On-Campus (New York, Miami, London & Canada)
Mento Design Academy
With a relevant curriculum and affordable price tag, the online UX/UI Bootcamp from Mento Design Academy is a great value proposition. Students learn in-demand UX skills, including UX/UI fundamentals, information architecture, interaction design, empathy and accessibility, usability testing, ideation, user experience research, and hands-on training with Figma and Sketch. Mento Design’s UX/UI bootcamp also features extensive career services, including one-on-one mentorship, job search support, and portfolio development.
- Duration: 6 - 9 months (self-paced)
- List Price: $6,750
- Formats: Online
Dribbble
While Dribbble’s Professional Diploma in UX Design isn’t technically a bootcamp as it only requires 5 hours of weekly study, we felt it worthy to round out this list. In addition to very affordable tuition, this UX design program features twelve industry-focused training modules in marketable topics like user research, mobile UX design, analysis, prototyping and wireframing, interaction design, workflows, and AI for UX design. Students in this online program complete 16 UX design projects to showcase in their professional portfolios.
- Duration: 6 months
- List Price: $3,950
- Formats: Online
Frequently Asked Questions
Technical trainers answer FAQs from UX design bootcamp candidates.
What is a UX design bootcamp?
A UX design bootcamp is an accelerated training program that provides the skills and qualifications to start a career in user experience design.
How long is a UX design bootcamp?
Program duration varies widely based on schedule, format & program curricula, but on average, the duration of a full-time UX design bootcamp is 3-5 months, while part-time UX design bootcamps last 4-9 months.
Do I need UX design experience to enroll in a bootcamp?
Most of the leading UX design bootcamps are designed for beginners. That said, some programs provide pre-course training materials to complete on your own before your official start date. This ensures all students have the baseline skills to keep the accelerated bootcamp on schedule.
What jobs can I get after graduating from a UX design bootcamp?
No bootcamp can truly guarantee you a job in the industry, but popular positions you can pursue upon completing a UX design bootcamp include UX/UI designer, product designer, and interaction designer.
