JENNY MARQUETTE'S EXPERIENCE AT CODECRAFT AS A UX DESIGN STUDENT
This is a series of blog posts written by CodeCraft student Jenny Marquette who is attending our part-time User Experience Design bootcamp. The series will cover her entire journey – from preparing for the program to getting her first job in the industry.
I began exploring the UX Design field a couple years ago after a friend, who is a developer, mentioned it was something he thought I’d be interested in. My background is in Graphic Design & Studio Art. I graduated college ten years ago, promptly moved to Colorado, and was told by several graphic design firms that they were happy to review my portfolio and provide feedback; they just weren’t hiring anytime soon.
In January 2017, I decided now was the time to make the career change and get serious about finding a UX program that would work for me. By February, I discovered CodeCraft School of Technology while researching local UX programs and began the process of enrolling in their part-time UX Design Bootcamp. I really wanted to find a bootcamp that I would be able to attend in person, that was affordable, and ideally, I would be able to continue working throughout the cohort. CodeCraft actually met all three criteria. Their UX bootcamp is part-time, which will allow me to continue working part-time for my current employer, the price is hands down the most affordable I’ve found for any UX bootcamp, and their cohort is in-person with a lead instructor as well as a few mentors. I felt strongly that this would be the best learning environment for me. I interviewed in March with Elysha Spector, the Admissions Manager, and a couple of days later received an acceptance email.
When I was accepted, I was planning to attend the April 2017 cohort. Elysha provided information and resources via email and she also answered any and all questions I had about the process, the cohort itself, and financing. I felt really well supported and could see that CodeCraft truly wanted to help me be successful. Still, with only one month until the cohort began, I was feeling pretty rushed trying to get prepared, make all the necessary adjustments to my work schedule, and figure out what would work best for me financially. Ultimately, I decided it would be best if I waited and attended the next available cohort, which worked out in my favor, as CodeCraft had reevaluated their cohort structure and decided to make the program more robust, adding additional hours of class time and more in-depth coverage of the skills and program knowledge needed. Overall, I felt like all of these changes only made feel more supported with what I hoped to gain by attending the bootcamp.
Leading up to the cohort, I was working about 45-50 hours per week, so finding time to prepare wasn’t always easy. Elysha was extremely helpful by emailing me what I should work on in preparation. This took the guesswork out and allowed me to focus on just doing the work. Also, as part of the enrollment in CodeCraft, they provide you an access code to attend in-person or on-demand Boulder Digital Arts lectures.
As part of my preparation, I utilized the BDA benefit to watch a couple of their on-demand lectures, Getting Started with Adobe InDesign and Introduction to HTML. I was able to attend a couple of in-person CodeCraft open house sessions, which was a nice opportunity to see the physical space and meet some of the staff, including the lead instructor, Michelle Coutinho.
In lieu of a Sketch class, Elysha provided me with an online Sketch tutorial, that was very useful. I also watched online tutorials through Udemy and Codecademy on HTML, CSS, and Javascript. In addition, I read Don’t Make Me Think Revisited by Steve Krug, and began reading HTML & CSS Design and Build Websites by Jon Duckett and UX Strategy by Jaime Levy.
Overall, the process and preparation leading up to the cohort was pretty painless. Elysha communicated often with me both via email and phone conversations. She provided me the resources and tools to feel prepared and supported. I am extremely excited to begin this journey and feel really fortunate that it is with CodeCraft.
ABOUT OUR UX DESIGN BOOTCAMP
Our part-time, 20-week, evening and weekend schedule bootcamp lets you get the skills you need without quitting your job. The program was designed by three UX design experts working for innovative companies like Google and Akamai who create products used by hundreds of millions of users. As a result our unique curriculum is rich with insights, best practices and real-world tools and techniques that you won’t find anywhere else.
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