Journey to UX master’s student
By: Amanda Conlon
Tags: Design Thinking, User Experience, Masters Degree, UX Design, Product Design

I just began a master’s degree in User Experience Design. While it is surreal to be back in school it has been a long journey to arrive here, looking forward down this path ahead. If you are thinking about pursuing a master’s degree or just thinking about User Experience, I hope my journey helps you in your decision.

The Problem

When I discovered the term “User Experience”, I was juggling multiple jobs and industries, switching from one to the other in a single day or week just to get by. I was working in the wine industry and filling in the gaps with hospitality work so I could travel, write and take photos around the world. These were all things I loved and learned from but what started off exciting became a confusing mess after a few years and left wanting more. I just kept searching for the one thing that would let me be creative, inspired, helpful and employed without trading all my experiences for a cold grey cubicle. I wanted to find a path from jack-of-all-trades to multipotentialite and I wanted to merge all of my experiences into a purpose.

In the days and weeks between seasonal work, I spent my time creating blog after blog, tirelessly adjusting fonts and background colors on Wix, Wordpress and other sites in hopes of a blog that I would love and use. I always became so perfectionistic with visual design (a word I didn’t know at the time) that I never actually added content to my food and/or travel blog and was too ashamed of the appearance to actually promote what I did write. Somehow I never realized I could learn how to manipulate these blog sites and websites, I thought it was some secret thing that only someone who knew how to take apart a computer could understand. When I discovered UX, I instantly realized what I had been missing and that I could help reduce the frustration in technology for users of all kinds and that I could also learn strategies to prevent myself from spending a week changing typefaces only to post zero words. User Experience was the challenging, creative, helpful career I had been searching for.

User Experience Research

Photo by Darwin Vegher on Unsplash

I discovered User Experience while deliberating between studying graphic design or coding most likely at a bootcamp, at a breaking point when I desperately needed a career change and full time work. UX seemed like the perfect combination of helping others, designing functional and beautiful products and somehow it was also an in-demand job. (It still seems too good to be true!) At first I couldn’t decide which direction to take, coding seemed like the most secure job option but the more I learned about UX the more I was hooked. I looked at several options for UX and coding courses, from bootcamps to master’s degrees. I talked to bootcamp recruiters and took many free intros from different sources including online courses and bootcamp preparations. I scoured reviews on all the online and immersive bootcamp comparison sites and really wanted to make sure I was making the right decision with my limited funds. Before committing to an immersive bootcamp, I decided to take a 4 week online course first and in the meantime I ended up finally getting a foot in the door working at the front desk at a reputable tech company. I underestimated how much I learned from the online course but it did set me up with resources that I have continued to use. The free intro courses were great too because I did actually learn a little bit of coding and some basic design principles and gained a greater understanding of the difference between UX and UI. I talked to a lot of UX designers during this time as well and heard mixed reviews about bootcamps versus teaching yourself versus formal training. Many disagreed about the value of bootcamps, a lot agreed that a formal education is not required if you had a portfolio and a few loved their experience in grad school and recommended it. I continued to read articles and blog posts, listened to podcasts, talked to inspiring people and started thinking of my own design projects.

Iteration

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Now that I had a full time job with benefits for the first time in years I couldn’t just quit to participate in an intensive bootcamp. I changed my perspective and started looking at online courses through universities, night courses and master’s programs. I realized that for the cost of a bootcamp, I could be half way through a master’s degree or fully through a course at a technical college or satellite school. It would take longer but I would have a degree and time to develop as a designer. Since I was a traveler, I often googled UX + location so when I saw a 1 year master’s degree in New Zealand I almost cried. I had just moved back to the US from New Zealand and missed it with all my heart. The career I wanted plus the location I loved seemed like the perfect fit. Not only that, but the degree was only 1 year so I wouldn’t have to commit to school for too long. I compared multiple UX master’s degrees across the world and found some very interesting ones, some more expensive than others, some with really high tech facilities and most two years in length.

Possible Solution

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I worked for two years in San Francisco at the front desk of a tech company, learning all I could about the tech industry and observing thousands of people from all over the world who came through the doors while reading UX articles in the spare moments between live bands in the lobby and tech tour groups. I talked to as many UX designers as I could during this time, constantly renewing my inspiration under the influence of caffeine and empathetic mentors.

I learned as much as I could on my own but still felt I wanted to take a course to synthesize everything I was learning and fill in the gaps. Between long commutes, long days of work and personal commitments I found it very difficult to feel confident in what I had to show for myself in UX. I still felt haunted by my scattered past of “cool” jobs that left me uninspired and constantly explaining why I left them. So I applied for the Master’s of User Experience Design in Wellington, New Zealand, still unsure about the financial commitment but confident about everything else. I would be able to live in New Zealand, learn about User Experience and have the semblance of confidence that comes from a master’s degree after many career tangents. The commitment meant a clean slate and a new start.

Considerations

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While jumping on a plane to get a master’s degree in New Zealand isn’t the right choice for everyone, this seemed to be the best combination for me. I made my decision based on location, time commitment and courses offered, making sure to ask people currently in the program about their experience as well. I made a chart to compare all of my options based on the criteria of time, cost, location, reputation and results and I’m glad that I didn’t rush into such a major decision. I might have ended up with a job in UX quickly after a bootcamp or I could have moved to Bali to live cheaply while making a UX portfolio to show prospective employers, but I chose to pursue a one year master’s degree in a place I love. I wanted to give my design skills time to develop, something I felt a 10 week bootcamp couldn’t offer, and I wanted to be surrounded by inspiring people instead of secluding myself on an island with a laptop. I hate having student loans again but I decided I would rather have loans that result in a degree than a certificate of completion.

Like UX itself, there are many ways to approach learning the discipline and it is as varied as the diverse people attracted to the profession. Since User Experience is such a new field, the teaching and learning style is still quite new and open to interpretation. I would encourage anyone considering a career in UX to think through all the options and where they place value. Just make sure to research first so you can make the best decision for your circumstances, talk to people in UX in your area so you understand the specific job market, take free intro classes to learn a little about the teaching style of an online course and find a way to put all the pieces together.

Outcome TBD…

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About two years after discovering UX, I just completed my first week as a master’s student. So far, I am excited to be a student again and inspired by all the people in my program as well as the professionals I’ve had the chance to meet so far. A year from now I will know if this was the right decision but I aim to make sure it is a productive year regardless of the program offering. This is my time to commit to UX and focus on learning everything I can. Whether that is from class, podcasts, articles, projects or people, I want to set the foundation as a lifelong student. As a mentor encouraged me, persistence is what matters most. I wish you luck in your own journey to UX.