3 ways you can learn UX Design

1. Traditional education to obtain a Master's degree

If you think that you need a university degree to be a UX Designer, you may be right, but it is only one path.

For many years the universities were behind in terms of this specialty and it was not easy to find updated curricula that were really worth it. However, in the last 5 years, masters endorsed by prestigious universities have emerged that offer the possibility of studying UX Design and obtaining a Master's degree.

One plus is that most do not require you to have a college or undergraduate degree to enroll.

Term: 1 to 3 years. It may vary depending on whether it is full-time or part-time.

Cost: They vary between 30K and 100K in the United States, but can be had between 5K and 20K and of equal quality in Europe. The difference lies in the prestige of the University.

Pros:

• As it lasts longer, you will go deeper into theory than in any other type of training and generally have a faculty of expert teachers from whom you can learn beyond the Master's theory.
• Some companies value having a title of this type in the hiring processes.
• You will expand your contact network as you will have the opportunity to meet many people with the same interests in terms of UX design but who may come from multiple fields of study or professions.

Cons:

• It is the most expensive way to study UX Design
• It takes a long time to get results that allow you to apply for jobs and the schedules are often inflexible so you have to adapt.
• Not all programs teach you what it will be like to work on a day-to-day basis as a UX Designer.

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2. Bootcamps and online courses

If what you are looking for is to start in UX Design without studying in a university program, you still have that possibility.

You can study on your own and get a certificate as a UX Designer. There are Bootcamps and online courses in which you can get these certifications.

Duration: 2 to 10 months. It may vary depending on whether it is full-time or part-time.

Cost: They range from $1,200 to $15K in the US and Europe, but can be had for between $300 and $4,000 and of equal quality in Latin America. The difference is generally the language since in the United States and Europe they are generally in English and in Latin America in Spanish.

Pros:

• It is the fastest way to learn at least the basics of UX Design and therefore to start working as a UX Designer.
• Generally, the program is focused on creating one or several projects that allow you to end up with case studies ready to include in your portfolio.
• You will have mentors or tutors who help you with the most theoretical part and in some cases with a career coach who advises you to prepare your resume, LinkedIn profile, and other necessary resources to start looking for a job.

Cons:

• Some may be expensive with respect to the length of time and the quality of the program they provide.
• It requires a lot of consistency because in most it seems that you are studying on your own because it can be difficult for you to receive feedback and guidance that is really useful.
• Most of them focus on teaching you an inflexible structure of the design process and not really understanding the why of the tools and how and when to use them. For this reason, almost all the case studies that come out of the bootcamp will have the same structure as the rest of the students.

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3. Learn on your own

To be honest, it was in this way that I started in UX Design 6 years ago. Medium was my first source of information.

So I assure you that it is perfectly possible to do it, that is if you have to have curiosity and perseverance at high levels to keep studying and filtering information.

Now you have a great advantage and that is that there are short online courses, some even free, that you can take to learn the most basic and from there you have to delve into each subject on your own because I don't know of any course of that type that is advanced level.

In fact, if you find one, I would appreciate it if you share it with me so I can include it in the resources 😉 .

Duration: 1 year to infinity. Everything will depend on you, how much and how fast you can learn.

Cost: Free or whatever the courses you are taking cost.

Pros:

• Obviously the cheapest way.
• Everything at your pace so it is the most flexible way
• You are going to discover a lot of resources, communities and ways of doing things along the way, because you will be forced to investigate all the time.

Cons:

• You will find more information than you can process, so it is difficult to filter and understand which sources are reliable and which are not.
• By not having a professional guide, you will get lost at many times and it will be difficult for you to follow a structured learning path and it will also be difficult to seek feedback.
• You will not have "formal" studies to include in your resume.

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It is usually difficult to make this decision and even more so to have the will to start, but you can be sure that any of the paths are valid and feasible.