Avocademy

I started off with their UX/UI foundations course. It helped me a lot to break into this industry. Of course, there are tons of free courses and curricula online, but Avocademy has gathered all the articles, sources, etc all in one place without having to figure out which information is good or bad. It is a lot of reading and can get kind of boring, but they are very useful information. After the foundations course, I joined their career jumpstart. Much more information and you actually get to work with real-life clients with other students as your teammates. I was able to get 4 projects into my portfolio! Also, all the mentors are very nice and are willing to help you every step of the way. 

I really enjoyed the Avocadamey foundations course. The course material is organized and in depth, and the mentors are all very helpful. Each mentor has their own style and strength, so as a student you are exposed to a lot of different design styles. The one thing I would say could be better is at certain parts of the course there may not be enough available mentors, so you are waiting on feedback longer in one phase than at another phase. Overall I think this is the best UX/UI bootcamp available, and I ended up continuing on to their career jumpstart program!

I'm a graduate of Avocademy UX/UI Foundations program. Let me start out by saying that when I started I had never heard of UI/UX design (and I have a Tech background). I had learned about Avocademy thru Tik Tok and did my research about the UX/UI industry. I found it interesting and decided to pursue a career in UX/UI. My next step was to contact Avocademy about the program. From my first interaction with a member of Avocademy you could tell they care. First, they answered all of my questions in detail, assuring me that I did not need a background in design to succeed. I started the UX/UI Foundations program. First, you will learn about research and interviewing and then turning that information into personas to eventually help you create your first case study. Throughout the program you will have to submit (and in my case re-submit and re-submit again) your work to mentors that have years of experience in the UI/UX industry. I really loved this part of the program. It was because of the iterations I had to do, that I eventually learned how and why you do some things and why you don't. Once the research is finished and approved, comes the designing of your app. They do a fantastic job of teaching you about low, medium and high fidelity wireframes and give all the information to help you learn everything about Figma and how to properly use this tool to design. You complete each stage of your design from low-fidelity wireframes to finally a working prototype. All while submitting your work to experienced mentors and doing iterations at each stage. Throughout the iterations, you will learn why and how to design in Figma. Learn the basics of design and master those design skills. Once the wireframes and prototype are completed and approved, the program and mentors help you with developing your portfolio and properly showing your first case study properly within your portfolio. 

I also completed the second program, Career Jumpstart, and I am currently looking for a UI/UX position. The second program is just as good as the foundations program. You have opportunities to work on real-life projects for clients with teams of 4-6 people. These same projects have Project Managers and Team Leads. Once the project(s) are completed, Avocademy helps you update your portfolio for those projects. Once you have finished the 2 projects, you start your position search with Mentors that help you either make or update your CV. This program has a fantastic method to get you hired. Avocademy has covered everything from start to finish. 

When I started this program, I had never heard of UX/UI and did not have any type of design background. I currently finished with Foundations and Career Jumpstart and I am looking for a position in UX/UI. I design on an almost daily basis during my free time, because I love to. I then post them to my LinkedIn for any and all to see. Feel free to message me with any questions you have about the program and my experience. Avocademy is a fantastic bootcamp to learn UI/UX design. Go check it out, I'm glad I did!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasblake5199/

I completed Avocademy's UX/UI Design Foundations program and it was an incredible experience. Students get unlimited mentor support (1-on-1, without having to pay extra!). The mentors are very knowledgeable and helpful. The unlimited mentor support is such a bonus. Everyone is very involved and so helpful, including the owner herself.

 The content within the course is consistently being updated with the latest and most relevant info for aspiring UX/UI designers. The content is also in such a way where you're learning from a variety of resources, therefore really honing in on everything and learning/viewing it all from a variety of different perspectives. In other words, it's taking the entire process of learning UX/UI and teaching it in a way that's understandable, can be integrated well, beginner-friendly, and clearly user-centric (always an important factor for a UX course lol). 

Amongst all these pros the only cons that I have are:
-  when doing iterations, one mentor might say one thing and another mentor might say another. BUT that's also a great opportunity to exercise your communication muscles (as that's something that will be needed as a UX Designer anyway lol) AND in the long-run I can see why one said one thing and another said something different - because my designs had been too much on one extreme and then by trying to fix it I went into the other extreme. So, honestly, even the con is pretty much a pro. Iterations can be frustrating a times but they really are necessary and the best way to learn how to best respond is by going through the course.
- because it is self-paced, it can be easy to lose track of time, delay timelines. The course is structured and made in such a way for them to really help you out with that, staying on top of your lessons and everything but ultimately it comes down to the student to actually uphold themselves to the timeline. Again, another opportunity.
So really, both cons are pretty much pros as well.

Honestly, I found it to be an incredible course (I honestly didn't expect it to be SO good given that they're just a fraction of the other UX bootcamps I was looking into). I loved it so much that I've taken their Career Jumpstart program *and* their Design Masterclasses. Seriously. If you're looking to get started as a UX Designer, I whole-heartedly recommend Avocademy (I'm actually doing so for my friends and family looking for a career change lol). 

I can’t say enough about career jumpstart. Upon starting, I was immediately met with warm welcomed from everyone in the program. Modules are clearly laid out and you get to jump right into real client work! On top of gaining real world experience working on products, you get the experience of working with other designers , PM’s, etc. Whenever I needed a second pair of eyes or ears , someone was readily available. They helped me with interview prep,portfolio prep/feedback, and mentorship. They helped me gain the confidence to land my first full time role in UX and I couldn’t be anymore grateful. 

After completing the Avocademy bootcamp, I signed up for Career Jumpstart which is really a must have when switching careers to UX Design. I signed up in January 2022, completed two projects, then started job hunting (I also completed another project a month later while job hunting). It took me a little over 6 months to find a job. They certainly have tons of mentor support for interviewing and recently increased the mentors availability which was great, but it's still a tough market. While I felt like they set you up for success with a great portfolio and resume, job hunting was tough for me personally. Some students got jobs within a month or two, so it's certainly possible, but not sure what the average job search length is. I struggled with applying to 160 jobs a month for 6 months straight, and that's what you'll have to do to get the job guarantee. Otherwise you will be pay 7% of your salary with no new job (assuming it's over $40,000), which almost happened to me (even if that did happen they were still going to support me). I would make sure this is something you really want to do and make sure you're in it for the long haul because it's a tough industry to break into right now. If you loved the bootcamp, you should go for it! As a side note, Maca, the co-founder of Avocademy and Career Jumpstart is awesome! She has such great insights and really wants you to succeed. She's constantly involved in mentoring students during the Daily Calls and is great about responding to messages. I think it's really rare to see a founder so involved with her students.

Long story short, they deliver what they promise and more! This program changed my life, and I recommend it to anyone trying to transition to UX/UI, especially graphic designers –which was my case. Avocademy Carrer Jumpstart gives you every tool you need to succeed and access to knowledgeable mentors that guide you every step of the way, from how the heck to start to what to do once you land your job. 

The course is structured clearly, intuitively, and easy to follow. Like everything in life, the results also depend on your effort. They set you up for success, but you need to work hard to make it work. However, if you follow the plan and keep improving yourself every step of the way, this will be one of the best investments of your life. 

I joined the Avocademy UX/UI Design Bootcamp. As an educator seeking to change careers, I really thought I would be able to build a portfolio by the end of the course, receive mentorship, and get a job. They are relatively new BootCamp. I had to take breaks due to current work stress and did not complete the program in the timeline. Once I finally got back on track, the curriculum shifted and changed. A different struggle is that you are not placed with a consistent mentor. Mentors are placed with certain activities or units. I struggled with one mentor approving a document, and the following one saying it wasn't good enough and I needed to redo it. I completed the portfolio and realized the intro bootcamp wasn't enough. I would need to take 2-3 more Bootcamp style "courses" ranging from $3,000-5,000. Even though there were regular posts of students finding jobs, many students after 6 months were still looking for work. (UX/UI field is not open for newcomers). You have to show at least 2 years of experience to be considered for a UX position, and the bootcamps only provide you with 1 portfolio (not enough for an employer). I wish had chosen a bootcamp with a job guarantee, and not a course that requires 2-3 separate bootcamps to get a job. 

I had a great experience learning with the Career Jumpstart program. The course material was very well oriented and the mentorship was helpful. This program is great for giving real life design experience with clients, which is not like many other courses. I came from a graphic design background, so having this course really helped me to understand more about user experience so that I can make my designs more intentional for users. I would recommend this course for anyone that wants to get into the world of tech as a creative mind.

After finishing my portfolio, I was able to get a job within 2 weeks of applying. I couldn't have done this without Career Jumpstart team's help.