Avocademy

Who I think this course is excellent for: 
People who have been learning about UX design on their own and are ready to follow the steps to complete a Portfolio from start to finish.  The course calculates you will take 6-8 weeks to learn the basics of UX/UI and complete an entire project. My overall experience even as a new designer without any graphic design, marketing, project managing or tech experience was great!  Although I have to say, that if I had learned more on my own prior to taking this, I would have finished faster! Either way it’s a great path to take for someone, like me, who was completely new to UX design. For those who are new, prepare to read a LOT, research a lot, watch many tutorials, Google many UX best practices. 


You will get access to mentoring calls during those 6-8 weeks that you work on your project. The more research you do, the better prepared you will be to ask questions, get feedback and understand feedback. (That’s a tip for total new ones to the field!) 

It’s a lot of work, but the payoff is great as well. I love how you come out of the program with an entire portfolio piece! If you are ready to continue your career shift, enrolling in career jumpstart is the next step. 

I had previously taken an UX/UI course with another institution and wished I had came across Avocademy sooner. The 6-8 week course is self paced and the learning material is very informative and resourceful. Mentors are available throughout the course to assist with the project and provide guidance. We also get to communicate with other students and help each other out. There are also speaker series with people who have years of experience in the UX field give us advice and share their experience. I'm looking forward to their Career Jumpstart program. They guide you every step of the way to help you succeed. I'm glad I've came across Avocademy. 

After spending the last 8 years in the insurance industry I needed a career pivot. Following a lot of research, I found that UX design was where I wanted to be. I went the self-taught route but quickly found that I needed to approach learning in a more structured environment. Insert Avocademy. 

There are a lot of great things I can say about the bootcamp but here are my 5 biggest takeaways:

1. Mentor feedback and availability: Each activity needs to be approved by a mentor before moving on. Having someone in the UX field critique your work and provide actionable feedback was invaluable to me. Also having the ability to set up meetings with mentors to talk through issues as they came up was great.  
2. Community: Being able to interact with other students and build connections over time helped a lot. It's been great getting to work with fellow students. And you never know where those connections may lead to in the future. 
3. Encouragement to participate in hackathons and other design competitions: While taking the foundations course we were introduced to and encouraged to participate in other projects.  I took part in the Adobe Creative Jam and learned a new design tool, met some amazing people, and built on my skills. After just a few weeks in I had enough skill to participate and that blew my mind. 
4. A portfolio project: A project that I'm proud of and guidance in setting it up in my portfolio. 
5. Cost: When I was looking for other bootcamps, nothing else came close to comparable. 

Given what I took from the foundation's course if you asked me if I'd do it again the answer will always be 100% Yes.

When I first learned about UX/UI, I immediately knew I wanted to enroll in a BootCamp but the real question was...which one? There were so many boot camps out all with various price ranges, mentorship, and different features. After some thorough research and listing out the pros and cons for each BootCamp I finally decided on Avocademy.

Why?
I chose Avocademy because of the price. It was extremely affordable and offered unlimited mentorship. I also liked the duration of the BootCamp which was 6-8 weeks and it is self-learning. This allowed me to learn on my own time and at my own pace.

After completing the course foundations for Avocademy, I truly loved it, Avocademy taught me the basics of the UX/UI and I was able to have a completed personal project by the end of the week. The material was easy to understand and follow. The mentors are truly helpful and provides great feedback to help you be a better designer. I absolutely love the community of Avocademy as well because everyone is extremely supportive of each other. After course foundations, I decided to join career jumpstart and I am still learning so many new materials and concepts there. Highly recommend!

I was extremely skeptical about signing up for an online bootcamp. Would it be worth the money? Would the outcome be something I’d be happy about? Would I actually get a job in this field?!  All my concerns were valid but instead of trying to figure all these answers out by myself, I did my own research and then I set up a one-on-one to chat with Maca. Our conversation left me feeling like I would be supported in my learning and there was a plan in place to ensure my success. The next step was to trust myself to do the work, really apply myself to the learning, and use the resources Avocademy was offering me to succeed.  I am the kind of learner that needs context for information to stick. This program allowed me to learn about UX/UI theories and practices and asked me to put that information to use by conducting activities to reinforce this new information. Once completed, I would submit my work for mentors, who were experienced designers, to provide me feedback on how to improve my work and WHY! If I needed support and had not completed an activity yet, I could always set up a meeting with a mentor to receive additional support in the meantime. This is my ideal approach to learning. [New information > application > submit > feedback > revise > resubmit]. This method is supportive, encouraging, and provides opportunities for the content to really stick.  I am so happy to say that I have recently completed the Foundations course and am so excited to start the Career Jumpstart portion of the program. I am already signed up to work on two different projects! These projects will continue to reinforce my learning, boost my confidence as a designer, and provide me with REAL WORK to add to my portfolio. All of these things will make me a stronger candidate when I begin applying to jobs.  In the past, I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars committing to for-profit academic institutions that provide inadequate support with no plan to help me break into the workforce. I believe Avocademy is different because the plan to help you turn your learning into a career is laid out in plain text and, if you commit to the process, you are incredibly likely to see the fruits of your labor. I am seeing other students share their new job stories and it is so inspiring! I cannot wait to be among them. Thank you Maca & Avocademy!! 

I started my course at Avocademy on December 9th, 2021. Since I had the time to dedicate myself to the program full time, I wanted a BootCamp that could be up to my pace. I enjoyed the materials and the assignments are very helpful to understand the concepts of UX design. 

Throughout the program, UX design mentors have to approve your work. This is a great educational tool as they will comment and give feedback to improve the work you are submitting. Mentors take their time to review everyone's work and schedule calls to help with assignments if needed. By the end of the course, you have 1 case study and develop a portfolio that you can continue building on after the foundation's course or through their career jumpstart program.              

Another thing that I liked and found very valuable was the speaker's series. This is a series where UX professionals in the field would do an online presentation about helpful materials, tips, and skills to know in the UX world. There are a lot of guest speakers and they happen about once a week or more. If students are not able to attend the live session, a recorded version is available for all students within days. I enjoyed it! 

Overall, I really enjoyed my time at Avocademy. The pacing, material, and assignments were great, and the mentorship and speakers series were priceless resources to learn and jump into the UX design field.     

This course has helped me gain so much experience in such a concentrated amount of time. I have amazing products to put in my portfolio and I landed a job in two weeks of starting my search! The mentors were so helpful and available throughout all of my projects and the ups and downs. I never felt lost or confused. They helped me through the job search process and gave me all the necessary information to be successful in interviews, design challenges, negotiation and accepting a job! It's all very organized and professional. This changed my life. Best decision ever.

Regarding a career pivot, Avocademy was one of the best decisions I have ever made. 

When I first became interested in learning UX / UI design, I was quite unsure where to start. The field had different routes without without have a direct path to entry unlike other careers. I have spoken with a variety of bootcamps focusing on the field, but was intimidated by their high costs and other factors.

When I learned about Avocademy, I was hesitant and decided to conduct more research. Upon my research and some prayer, I decided to pursue this path with the program’s guidance.

The program itself was definitely interesting. Even though the duration is only 6-8 weeks, it was packed full of content to work through. I enjoyed every moment though. Each of the 6 modules was new and exciting to complete. 

The mentorship was one of kind. I always brag about how personable the mentors are and that they definitely help make a difference for the students. Maca, the founder, is awesome as well!

She and the other mentors definitely care about the success of their students and I am happy to have met them. I love how kind, resourceful, and helpful everyone is; the mentors as well as my fellow classmates. 

The next phase is Career Jumpstart which will solely focus on building my portfolio and then begin the hunt for a job position. 

I am excited to continue forward with Avocademy and secure a UX / UI design role in the very near future. As I said prior, Avocademy was one of the best decisions I have ever made and the payoff will be just as rewarding.

Avocademy changed my life. This affordable, approachable curriculum introduced me to key UX/UI concepts and gave me the confidence I needed to pursue this career in earnest. 

Avocademy mentors are helpful and friendly, and the coursework is thorough without being overwhelming. I was able to complete the activities and projects at my own pace, and the mentors gave me great feedback to ensure my work was top-quality and portfolio-worthy. 

Avocademy is self-paced with almost unlimited mentor support. Students can schedule one-on-one mentoring sessions to review their work, ask questions, and build connections with others in the industry.  If you're someone who thrives in an independent learning environment with support from experts, this course is perfect for you! 

You'll also join a welcoming community of talented and curious UX designers all rooting for you to succeed. I would take this course again without hesitation, and I've already recommended it to friends and family. 

This course is jam packed with information. I am greatful to gave learned as much as I did iver the course of time. It is supposed to be a 6week course however if you have other responsibilities it will take forever to complete. 

Maca and her team are excellent and really help you achieve your goals for the capstone project. 

Just note to get hired, one project isn’t enough. You need at least 3 so keep that in mind. There is another program for a price to help you get that new position. 

I've tried a different, short foundational UX/UI bootcamp before coming into Avocademy. The main reason I chose Avocademy ultimately for the "real thing" after researching many other bootcamps in a year was the unlimited 1:1 mentorship, and the affordable cost. A lot of bootcamps don't offer the call with mentor, some only offer a limited number. I also like how approachable all the mentors are. Maca (the owner) has been super helpful with any and all questions and issues I had. They're all just one Slack DM away. The curriculum was great, I didn't think it was possible to do everything that was listed on the modules by one person (myself) when I started the course and had a quick glance at them, but it was! I wouldn't say they're easy, they were challenging, but in a good way that helped my push myself out of my comfort zone. Again, the mentors were always there along the way, I don't think I could have done it without them, and my fellow students as well. In a couple of weeks I'm going to begin my Career Jumpstart journey so I'm very excited for that!