UT Bootcamp Lead Instructor

UT Bootcamp Lead Instructor



Problem

How might we provide a curriculum to increase revenue for the Bootcamp UX/UI product, provide job ready skills for students, and increase enrollment.

Solution

The solution was to refine the curriculum, teach industry software, teach the business of desgin, and retain students so that the outcomes of increased revenue, increased enrollment and students getting jobs are achieved.

Impact

From 2018 to 2019 there was an increase in revenue of worth an estimated $2.4 million solely at UT, not to include the other schools that kept the UX/UI Bootcamp product as well. based on student retention. During the current cohort 3, which is a much larger cohort, the increase will be quite significant.

Discovery and Framing



Hypothesis


We believe that students need to learn and update their skills, and that if we improved the bootcamp experience, curriculum, and mentoring for the students, so that the students are job ready by the time the cohort comes to an end, it would lead to students gaining employment and increasing revenue for the bootcamp.


Assumptions


  • Students have little to know experience in the tech field.
  • Students require mentoring and skills updating.
  • The curriculum needs constant iteration.
  • Students want to learn the design business side of things.

How might we. . . .


How might we iterate on the current curriculum, so that the students acquire the skill sets, confidence, and experience, to fulfill orders quickly and intuitively.

Persona



When the persona was put together, it included the overarching themes that applied to current students. It became apparent the critical path moving forward was to use the curriculum as a baseline and to add to it to produce better outcomes.


User Task Flow



A task flow was created to figure out the path that solved for the problems that the students where encountering.


What we learned


  • The inclusion of metrics-based design decisions is needed.
  • Adding storytelling to the curriculum is greatly needed, in order to design the student's portfolios.
  • The need for mentoring and coaching is extremely important to the student's success.

Next steps


  • Create storytelling deck.
  • Create embedded designer deck.
  • Create business of design deck.
  • Mentoring is greatly needed

Design Artifacts



Initial hypothesis - Validated.

  • Improving the experience, curriculum, and mentoring are crucial to the success of the students.

In person workshops



Facilitated in person workshops to teach design thinking techniques such as affinity diagrams, card sorting, prioritization matrices, white boarding exercises, and many more design thinking methodologies.

Online workshops




Facilitated online workshops, using MIRO and Zoom, to teach design thinking techniques such as affinity diagrams, card sorting, prioritization matrices, empathy mapping, value proposition canvases, and many more design thinking methodologies.

Storytelling






Storytelling deck with key suggestions, to implement and test, get feedback on, and solve for the wanted outcomes.


Business of Design







Business of Design deck with key suggestions, to implement and test, get feedback on, and solve for the wanted outcomes.

Insights


The first insight was students need an overall holistic view of user experience and user interface, they need to understand the why and the iteration process that is ambiguous.

The second insight was that students need to understand that all design decisions need to be backed by data. That this enables a design practice to de-risk solutions for the business stakeholders.