Top UX School

@kaitinghuang congrats on your first launch, this is really useful! Do you plan on adding other resources such as bootcamps and online courses?

@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!!

@kaitinghuang sounds good, would love to somehow see outcomes of courses too! because i think a lot can achieved self-taught, without any uni degree

@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!

@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.

@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! :)