As a UX designer who initially broke into the UX field through trial and error, I built this site to help people who are new to UX to find UX programs that are suitable for them.
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Cool idea but using the amount of designers from a school now working at Google is a very poor and egotistical metric to measure the quality of a UX program
@jamalnichols1 Thanks for the feedback! As I explained on the website, I totally agree with you that the current metrics is not great. I'm searching for meaningful & feasible ways to measure. Feel free to suggest ideas! :)
@jamalnichols1@kaitinghuang Maybe you could provide counter metrics of how many designers that work at those companies didn't go to these schools, or better yet, didn't go to school for ux or product design at all . Anecdotal, but pretty much every single one of the best product designers I've ever worked with never came out of a "UX design" program. I would argue a strong case that having perspective in a tangent but applicable field is often the absolute only way to get that all valuable tool in the box as a designer.. perspective.
@jamalnichols1@wuss Thanks for the suggestion! Any idea where to get the data of "the number of designer in a company"? As fas as I know this kind of data tends to be confidential and constantly changing. And again, it’s very difficult to decide which companies to pick. (Thinking)
I personally also strongly believe in the power of self-learning, and I completely agree that having a degree is not a requirement for UX. However, based on many past conversations with people who are new to the field, I realized that for many of them, going to school/bootcamp first is the “relatively easy” way to break into the field (That’s why I got asked a lot about the school recommendation to the extent that I decided to make this site). Practically speaking, from recruiters’ perspective, without a degree/certificate, the candidate’s portfolio has to REALLY stand out. Possible, but might not be realistic for most people who just start out.
I think there’s no “best way“ to learn things, only “the most suitable way“ based on each individual’s circumstance. This includes getting a degree, 100% self-learning, or somewhere in between.
Hi all, this is my first time launching on Product Hunt & also the first time I made a product for the community (design) I care about. Any feedback is welcome! Thank you ❤️
@graeme_fulton Hi Graeme, this is a great feedback! My original intention was to start with a list of more manageable and verifiable list (e.g. university degrees). As the project evolves, it's definitely worthwhile to add bootcamps and online courses to accommodate different people's interest. Thanks!!
@graeme_fulton I completely agree. I'm in the process of coming up with a better way to measure the "outcome". It's tricky because a person's job title doesn't necessarily reflect the impact or satisfaction. If you have any idea, feel free to let me know!
Great list but it unfortunate that Canada's biggest exclusively HCI research school is not mentioned -
School of Interactive arts and Technology, Simon Fraser University , Vancouver
I love your intention, but as someone who works at Google and am a hiring manager of a 30+ UX team I think this is could lead to an unfortunate self-perpetuating cycle, esp. for someone actively looking to find folks from varied and distinct programs and educational backgrounds.
Also as someone who is and knows a lot of folks with non-traditional paths to UX. I don't want people to discount how experience and education that teaches *how* to think over rote academic processes aligned with how some imagines the product design should go.
Keep on keeping on, and thanks for making things with the intention of helping folks!
@jaredzimmerman Thanks for sharing your perspective! In my mind, people who will benefit the most from the site, are people who are exploring the possibility of a UX education. I agree with you that I should be wary of sending the message that "university is the only way". This is why I like the idea of adding other options on the site (e.g. MOOCs, bootcamp), like a lot of folks mentioned above.
I'd like to call out one thing though: for international students who are looking for opportunities working in another country, pursuing a degree is still a "relatively easy" way to get started for multiple reasons (e.g. visa, language, network, etc). On this route, we should also be cautious about generalize/romanticize rare success cases because everyone's starting point can be very different.
Thanks again for the thought! :)
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Congrats, I think this is really inspirational. I could see you doing YouTube videos about this project and interviewing UX professionals in Silicon Valley.
This is essentially because video is the way to reach young people today and a YouTube channel is definately the way to go also since you work at Google.
I do think courses and short-tutorials would also be a way to monetize sometime down the road if that's what you choose to pursue. You seem quite serious about this, so you need to diversify this project into a YouTube Channel, a Medium Publication, a Brand name, An inspirational community, and a startup that has some unique value proposition.
You could make an annual list of top UX Designers under 25 with their biographies. You could also have a business aspect where you help UX designers in Asia transition to the U.S., England and Canada.
From humble beginnings I have a feeling this project could scale well. It just depends where your heart is at.
@mike_k_spencer Hi Michael, thanks for the abundant suggestions about the future direction! Definitely everything you mentioned is worth considering. I'm in the process of figuring out "where my heart is" ;) Will keep you updated! Thanks again!
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@kaitinghuang This product is so, super useful! I just want to say one thing - the HCI master's for the Rochester Institute of Technology doesn't require a GRE for domestic US students and the degree can be completed either on campus or online. Thank you for this product! Upvoted for sure 👍
@archaeologis Thank you for the nice words and the suggestion! I'll update the info on the site soon. :)))
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I've certainly looked up this information before and you've laid it out in a really nice manner. Currently these are institutional colleges. I'm looking forward to see you add MOOCs (such as Designlab, Lambda School, and General Assembly) which are not associated with colleges, and view those rankings. This is an amazing project that I will recommend to my mentees who are always looking to break into the field.
@bitpixi Thanks for the support and feedback! I've added MOOCs (free online courses) and Bootcamp (e.g. Designlab, Lambda School, and General Assembly) on the roadmap. :)
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