Springboard

Before I took the course, I read a lot of these reviews and I can say that the positive feedback they give Springboard is true.

If you're someone like me who needs a structure to their learning then this is a great course for the price. The Mentor meetings are really great, my mentor Andre provided great insight whilst taking an in-depth interest in my project, which made me feel like I was getting my money's worth.

The course content is also brilliant as a new starter in UX.

Something I really wanted to know was how long it would take:

• If you're working part-time, you can complete it in 2-3 months.
• If you're working full-time, you are looking at 3-4 months.

I was working full-time during the completion of this course and it took me 4 months. However, the insight I've gained is massive and I feel like I've learnt a lot about UX.

I’ve had an amazing experience at Springboard. Their Data Science Career Track program is curated, but they you can tell they really took the time to find all the best resources out there. It’s  not going to be easy because you’re learning so much in s limited time, but it will be so worth it if you’re seeking for a career change or to enhance your skills. In addition to getting one-on-one mentoring, you also get extra support from the community. Also, their career services is also amazing! Coming out of this program, I not only learned the skills to become a data scientist, but the drive to become an independent learner. If you’re seeking to venture into data science, I definitely recommend Springboard!

I would definitely recommend taking the Springboard UX Design course because it connects you with so many valuable resources and material. The best part was having a mentor who has a lot of experience in the field. You get to talk with him or her once a week and talk about the course material, your project, or any questions you might have. The hardest part for me personally was sticking to the schedule. It's nice that you can set your own pace and they help you with a completion schedule but there isn't very much accountability, which might be fine for some people but I need at least a little. Overall, I would definitely recommend it if you want to get into the UX design field or you just want to freshen up your design skills. 

I learned a lot from Springboard's UX Bootcamp. I thought the curriculum was well-organzied, and there is a ton of information that's accessible forever, which is also another huge plus. I'm sure I'll refer back to the dashboard to brush up or strengthen my skills by re-watching some videos. My mentor was also very helpful during the course. He was promt, experienced, and very in-depth for each section's expecations. The only con I have is that the price could be a little lower for those who are taking longer than 3 months to complete the course. With a full-time job, it took me longer and began to hurt my wallet a bit! But, overall it was worth it. I can now apply my knowledge at my job.

before participating in the online UX course from Springboard i had a general idea of what user experience entailed, but had no idea the steps, processes and skills involved in creating a full fledged team of contributors. this program was initially appealing to me for a few reasons. 1) my current position has always been a hybrid design/front-end coding and i wanted to be able to create more effective designs backed by user data 2) my company had started to explore the UX space and toy with installing a process and team and 3) this course also comes with a mentor that can help you through the course materials and project.

the course materials are sourced from many different sites and while i thought this strange at first, i felt that it really added something extra to the course. first and foremost, it resulted in a large list of resources in the way of design and UX websites, blogs, organizations and tutorial sites that i now had in my back pocket and could continue to use for years to come (not to mention you still have access to all the course materials after completion). the other thing i found that i liked about this was that everything was not in the same voice, so you tend to get different perspectives on processes and techniques. that along with the fact that i felt the course dove deep enough into each discipline to get one’s feet wet made this a very valuable course IMO.

to top it all off, Springboard as a part of the UX course matches each student with an experienced UX professional. each week you meet (online) with this mentor and review all the knowledge you are soaking up and discuss to make sure you’re understanding how all the pieces fit together. my mentor had years of contract experience working for companies like PayPal, Apple and Cisco, so she had a wealth of first-hand experience and knowledge to share with me and helped me to understand the application of all that i was learning. this feature alone was worth the price of admission for me.

the one drawback i would take from this course could also be turned into a positive depending on your availability and drive. this course is a “work at your own pace” situation, so if you are overly busy (like i was) or just not motivated enough, the course can drag on and get expensive (you are charged monthly in some cases). that being said, another good part of having the mentor is that they help to keep you on track so if you are ready to make your way through the course, you should be fine!

Springboard had a nice style that allows you to go at your own pace but I found that their weekly office hours and weekly mentor calls left too much of an opening for me when I had questions. Mentors are available by email, and there is a community board for posting but I felt like that by the time I was meant to review I had forgotten what questions I had. Overall I think it was a bit too free forming and needed to be more concrete. On the plus side, my mentor was very smart and offered valuable input when it was asked. There were some great subjects that I felt really stuck and couldn't be forgotten. I really enjoyed how Springboard utilized DataCamp to teach R. On the other hand, I did not like how they used Khan Academy for the probability and stats chapter. The other Youtube video for machine learning was very difficult to follow. 

Initially, what I had in mind was to find a UX course that wouldn’t affect my work schedule and offers a reasonable course fee. I came across Springboard online and decide to give it a try since they charge on a monthly subscription basics. Everything turns out amazing for me within just 4 months. I graduated with a UX certificate, made useful connections with liked minded people over the springboard community and also get to learn UX from an industry expert who is patience and provide career guidance throughout the course.

Pros

• Springboard will assign a mentor who is a subject expert in the field or areas that you are interested in.
• You don’t have to worry about time zone differences. In my case, Springboard assigned a mentor who has a time zone close to mine.
• Don’t have to fret over busy work schedule since it’s an online course. Communicate with your mentor to plan ahead in time.
• Weekly calls with mentor to discuss ideas and give you feedbacks on your course work.
• There are mini projects to get you started with understanding UX and the quickest way to learn is to get your hands on it.
• The Springboard community is useful to share ideas, find volunteers (eg. Interviewees) and get feedbacks for your assignments.
• Since the final submission is a capstone project, you will get to choose your own topic and build a full fledge UX portfolio (Which I find extremely useful especially for starters)

Cons
 

• I find some of the course materials really time consuming such as long videos and lots of readings in some chapters. But some of the materials are optional and also it is not mandatory to complete 100% of the course materials (Although it will be good to)

Overall, I find this course really interesting and the concepts are relatively easy to understand.

I would rate Springboard a 4.5/5 ! I’m really glad I joined Springboard and I would recommend anybody who is interested in learning UX or wants to be a UI/UX designer to take the course!