Whether you’re a novice UX designer aspiring to build foundational skills or an experienced designer looking to hone your UX design skills — a UX design bootcamp is just the place for you.
As a viable alternative to formal education, UX bootcamps offer the rigorous training of a full-fledged degree program coupled with the convenience of short courses.
Choosing the best UX bootcamp from so many options in the market can feel overwhelming, so we’ve made things easy for you with our top 13 best UX design bootcamps.
We’ll break down the best features for all these online bootcamps with a detailed comparison to help you make an informed decision. However, before we get started, let’s take a closer look at why you could benefit from one.
What is a UX bootcamp?
A UX bootcamp is a hands-on learning program spanning a few weeks or months with a focus on UI UX design training. Such programs equip bootcamp graduates with in-depth technical knowledge of the design process, strong UI UX design skills, and a professional portfolio.
A strong UX bootcamp also offers career services support to help designers find a great UX role that’s aligned with their skills.
What will you learn in a UX bootcamp?
Before you finalize your choice of UI UX design bootcamp, it’s important to know what you can expect from the program. A typical bootcamp offers an immersive learning experience with a project-based curriculum covering the key concepts, tools, and trends in the UX design space.
Every standard UX design bootcamp should offer skills training in:
- UX research
- Visual design
- Design thinking
- Design systems
- Usability testing
- Web development
- Human-centered design
- Information architecture
- Wireframing and prototyping
Advanced design bootcamps also cover technical nuances of software engineering, data analytics, and digital marketing—among other skills.
Since each bootcamp differs in structure, mode of instruction, intensity, timeline, and cost, choosing the ideal program for your goals is no small feat. We’ve reviewed and ranked the 13 best UX design bootcamps to simplify this decision for you.
Features to consider for finding the best UX bootcamp for your needs
While we’ve done the legwork to assess, compare, and compile this list of the 11 top UX bootcamps, the decision is ultimately yours. That means you need to know how to weigh the pros and cons of each program to make the best choice.
Here are five factors to consider when shortlisting a bootcamp to learn UX design:
1. Cost
Before everything else, think about finances and decide how much you can invest in a UX UI bootcamp. These online UX design courses are available in varied pricing ranges—anywhere between $10 and $10,000. Your spending capacity will play a big role in which program you can enroll in.
While filtering these online programs by cost, it’s equally important to assess the return on investment for each program. Check the portfolio projects, financial aid, career services, and job opportunities included in the program to ensure you get the best possible deal.
2. Flexibility
Consider your availability and find a bootcamp that works around your schedule. It’s very easy to commit to a tight schedule upfront, but you could find yourself regretting it later down the line. A manageable, flexible course is a must.
To accurately assess a bootcamp’s flexibility, check details like:
- Mode of instruction (self-paced or instructor-based)
- Number of learning hours per week (fixed or flexible)
- Frequency of projects and assignments (extreme or moderate)
If you’re working full-time and want to enroll in a UX bootcamp, you’ll likely want a highly flexible course. On the flip side, full-time students can opt for more rigorous and demanding in-person or online bootcamps. It depends on your schedule and desired approach to learning.
3. Delivery method
UX design bootcamps can be self-paced or instructor-led. A self-paced program means you get pre-recorded materials for guided, on-demand learning. An instructor-led program includes live classes—whether online or offline, much like formal education.
Your chosen delivery method depends on the approach that best suits your learning style and availability. Self-paced programs give you the flexibility to learn at times that suit you, whereas instructor-led programs often require your engagement at specific times—such as during lessons or workshops.
4. In-person or remote
The bootcamp’s format is another crucial factor to consider—whether it’s remote or in-person. Remote learning gives you the flexibility to attend classes from anywhere or complete a self-paced course at your convenience.
However, if you prefer in-person learning, look specifically for hybrid or offline design bootcamps with career planning services and industry mentors. Alternatively, you can pursue a degree program from a UX design school to experience in-person learning with peers.
5. Curriculum
The program’s curriculum is a defining factor for UX designers at different stages in their careers. You’ll want to learn different skills depending on where in your career you’re currently at.
For example, novice UX designers likely want to cover the basics—such as key terminology and definitions, specific skills and techniques, and the tools to use moving forward. More experienced designers might be looking to focus on a specific UX skill or develop complementary skills, such as coding or interviewing.
You should also check the subjects and skills in the curriculum. Look out for in-demand skills like:
- UX research
- Visual design
- Design thinking
- UX fundamentals
- Interaction design
It depends on what you’re looking to learn, but you’re sure to find a good fit from these top 11 UX bootcamps. .
12 Best UX design bootcamps in 2023
Let’s break down these 11 UX bootcamps with their top features and pricing plans to help you make the right choice for starting your UX career:
- Uxcel
- Flatiron
- SuperHi
- Thinkful
- Avocademy
- Ironhack
- DesignLab
- Memorisely
- Springboard
- BrainStation
- CareerFoundry
- Interaction Design Foundation
- Constructor Learning UX/UI Design bootcamp
First up: Uxcel.
1. Uxcel
Uxcel is an online learning platform for UX designers at all skill levels. Similarly to a bootcamp, the platform is designed to help designers learn new skills, test their expertise, and get certified for roles with UX design certifications.
That being said, Uxcel offers more than your average bootcamp. The approach to learning focuses on providing users with a modern, interactive learning space that accompanies them in their endeavours. It doesn’t have a start or finish date, meaning that learning can be ongoing and fluid—instead of intense and finite.
With a huge library of online courses, Uxcel gives UX designers the flexibility of self-paced learning at an affordable cost—without compromising on the quality of learning resources. You can hone individual skills with specific lessons or complete multiple courses included in curated career paths to master that domain.
Top Features
- Courses: take UX courses with lessons designed to improve UX design skills and specific techniques
- Lessons: take individual design lessons for quick learning and development
- Assessments: take UX skill assessments to develop your Skill Graph and see your strengths, areas of improvement, and how you compare to other UX designers
- Challenges: push yourself with UX design challenges on a variety of UX topics and skills
- UX training: learn the skills you need to move into specific UX roles and obtain Uxcel’s professional certifications with the curated collection of UX career paths
- Arcade: develop your understanding and learning with UX games to hone your skills
- Team plan: upskill your entire team with Uxcel’s solution for developing your team’s UX skills
Pricing details
The Starter plan is available at $0/month and the Pro plan is available at $8/month. Check out the complete pricing details here.
Format: Remote
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2. Flatiron
Flatiron offers a 15-week-long UX UI bootcamp that offers part-time, full-time, remote, and on-campus learning. The flexibility to complete the course per your preference makes this bootcamp a top choice among UX designers.
With a focus on product design, the Flatiron UX bootcamp covers many aspects of user interface design, including user research, visual composition, typography, web development and design, and product strategy—among other concepts. The UX design program also features industry professionals and designers as guest lecturers.
Top features include:
- Flexible tuition fees: pay a one-time payment or process 12 installments
- One-on-one career coach: 180 days of dedicated career support for job search
- Learn from experts: interact with and learn from the expertise of seasoned guest lecturers
- Live and Flex program: become a full-time, on-campus student or join part-time, remotely
Pricing details
The program costs $16,900 with a deposit of $99.
Format: Remote and in-person
3. SuperHi
SuperHi’s “Intro to User Experience Design” is one of the best UX bootcamps for beginners. This self-paced UI UX design training program includes six hours of video lessons, a Slack community of students, and complete practice exercises to understand the ins and outs of UX design.
The course delves into fundamental concepts like user research methods, journey mapping, design process, wireframing, and prototyping in Figma.
Top features include:
- Beginner-friendly: ideal for aspiring UX UI designers looking to build a UX skill set
- Real-world projects: emphasis on practical learning to sharpen your technical skills
- Access to instructors: connect with teachers to dive deeper into any aspect of the course
- Free learning resources: go beyond the curriculum to broaden your horizons with additional resources
Pricing details
The program is priced at a one-time fee of $149.
Format: Remote
4. Thinkful
Thinkful provides a UX UI bootcamp with a 6-month timeline. This program is ideal for UX designers, UX researchers, product designers, and web designers. You can choose a cohort-based curriculum where you’ll learn with a small group of students in a full-time capacity. Or you can opt for an independent learning path that requires 20-25 hours a week of your time.
The UX bootcamp offers personalized career coaching with practice sessions to improve interview skills and technical proficiency. You also get access to career support services like resume writing and salary insights.
Top features include:
- Deferred tuition options: start paying the fees only after you start making $40,000 a year
- Individual career coaching: get one-on-one guidance to effectively navigate the job market
- Job-oriented curriculum: build crucial UX design skills with a strategically designed curriculum
- On-demand coaching: interact with experts and get detailed feedback whenever you want
Pricing details
The full-time program is priced at $12,150 and the part-time program is priced at $9,500.
Format: Remote
5. Avocademy
Avocademy offers an 8-16 week UX/UI Design Bootcamp program designed to help individuals develop their skills in the field of user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design.
Top features include:
• Accessibility: The program is 100% online, enabling participants to access it from anywhere. It requires a commitment of 10-15 hours per week.
• Mentorship: Avocademy offers unlimited mentoring. Learners can schedule 1-on-1 mentoring sessions with experienced UX/UI designers to receive personalized guidance and support.
• Portfolio Building: Participants work on a case study to start building their design portfolios, which is crucial for job applications in this field.
• Course curriculum: The curriculum covers essential topics in UX and UI design, including Intro to UX and UI, User Research, Ideation & Information Architecture, Wireframing, UI Design, Prototyping & Testing, and Portfolio Building.
Pricing details:
Students can either make a single payment of $2,997 or choose a payment plan that spans 6, 18, or 36 months. Scholarships are available for underrepresented groups.
Format: Remote
6. Ironhack
Ironhack has a beginner-friendly UX design bootcamp that you can complete in 9 weeks full-time or in 24 weeks part-time. The bootcamp includes four main modules focusing on fundamentals of UX design, user interface design, user research, and real-life design implementation.
The program is available in three languages other than English—French, Portuguese, and Spanish. You can also learn with fellow UX designers in Sao Paulo, Berlin, Miami, Mexico City, Madrid, Barcelona, and a few other cities—it’s completely voluntary.
Top features include:
- Portfolio projects: prepare yourself for the job market with hands-on projects
- No prior experience: join the bootcamp without any experience in the UX design industry
- Global presence: interact with students from across the world at Ironhack campuses worldwide
- Online prework: acquaint yourself with the basics of UX design with 40 hours of prework materials
Pricing details
Fees aren’t available on the website, but pricing reportedly ranges from $7500 (part-time) to $12500 (full-time).
Format: Remote and in-person
7. DesignLab
DesignLab is a UX design bootcamp built for students and professionals alike that offers an online community of students, alumni, and mentors.
The program features an intensive curriculum with 118 lessons and 92 projects requiring a 20-hour weekly commitment. You’ll also get to work on four portfolio projects to help you with future job opportunities.
As a part of career services support, DesignLab gives you access to Huntr—a tool to streamline your job search. Alongside this, you’ll get all the latest job updates and networking opportunities on a separate Discord channel.
Top features include:
- Standout portfolio: use your creativity to complete all capstone projects and create a stellar portfolio by the end
- Part-time work opportunities: get freelance gigs to earn on the side of your program
- Career coaching: get 26 sessions with your dedicated career coach for any type of guidance
- Lifetime community access: network with like-minded individuals on the DesignLab community forever
Pricing details
The program is available at an upfront payment of $7,249.
Format: Remote
8. Memorisely
Memorisely offers a 12-week UX design bootcamp for part-time learners. The program covers a specific subject every week. There’s a 2-week break after the first five weeks to help students take a breather in between.
Some of the core topics you can expect to learn in this bootcamp include usability fundamentals, ideation & user flows, responsive design, and user interface. You’ll also use tools like Figma and Maze to build your technical expertise.
Top features include:
- Learning paths: choose an ideal learning path based on your experience level
- Co-working sessions: interact and work with your classmates in weekly live sessions
- Build case studies: design case studies for your project as proof of work to add more weight to your portfolio
- 1:1 career coaching: get personalized mentorship and interview practice to be ready for jobs
Pricing details
The program costs $3950 upfront.
Format: Remote
9. Springboard
Springboard offers a 6-month-long UX UI bootcamp with a combination of teaching methodologies. You’ll learn the nuances of UX design through a rigorous curriculum of videos, guides, and hands-on projects.
This bootcamp offers you the opportunity to work on real-time client projects sourced from Springboard’s exclusive partners. It also leads you to a job guarantee with its 1:1 career support services and networking opportunities.
Top features include:
- Work with a personal mentor: stay on track of your career goals with personal mentorship
- Advanced curriculum: dive deeper into the UX design space and take your skills to the next level
- Capstone projects: create a job-ready portfolio with strong projects highlighting your expertise
- Four-week client work: take on a real client project and handle end-to-end work for four weeks
Pricing details
The program costs $7,900 upfront.
Format: Remote
10. BrainStation
BrainStation’s UX design bootcamp is an instructor-led program available online. The program aims to build a close-knit community of students to maximize learner engagement and deliver interactive experiences.
The curriculum includes four main units, covering different tools like Figma, Stark, Tota11y, InVision, and Material Design Color Tool. By the end of this program, you’ll have a job-ready portfolio and will receive a BrainStation certificate.
Top features include:
- Flexible timelines: take the course on weekends or on weekday evenings
- Earn scholarships: pay your bootcamp fee with a merit-based scholarship
- Build a network: connect with like-minded professionals and create a strong network
- Advanced learning: level up your skills and solidify your knowledge with expert instructors
Pricing details
You can contact the team for full pricing details, but the average price for BrainStation bootcamps is around $15,000.
Format: Remote
11. CareerFoundry
CareerFoundry is a job-oriented UX design bootcamp giving students a job guarantee within 180 days of completing the program or a complete refund of the program fees. You can complete this self-paced learning program in under 10 weeks and complete hands-on projects to build a stellar portfolio.
The bootcamp also brings you the expertise of seasoned UX designers and free career coaching to hit the ground running when it comes to finding a UX role. Regular catch-ips with your student advisor and career specialist will also help you be more accountable and meet the 15-hour learning commitment per week.
Top features include:
- Exercise-based learning: receive feedback from mentors within 24 hours
- Tailored coaching: get 1:1 career advice from your designated career specialist
- 90% placement rate: land a solid job within three months of completing the program
- Free consultation: chat with a program advisor before signing up to find out more about whether it’s right for you
Pricing details
The program is priced at $7110.
12. Interaction Design Foundation
Interaction Design Foundation’s UX design bootcamp gives you permanent access to all the learning materials in this self-paced course. The curriculum starts from zero to teach you the basics of UX and UI design before tackling more complicated aspects of a UX career track—like experience design, client management, and soft skills training.
Interaction Design Foundation brings you the knowledge of leading UX design experts backed by exercises, step-by-step guides, and community learning.
Top features include:
- Transparent grading: get direct feedback and grades for your assignments from tutors
- Community meetups: become a part of the learners’ community and network
- Industry-recognized certificate: validate your skills for potential employers with a certificate
- No deadlines: navigate the course at your own pace with permanent access to all materials
Pricing details
This program is available with IDF’s membership for $11/month (Student plan) or $16/month (Professional plan).
Format: Remote
13. Constructor Learning UX/UI Design bootcamp
Constructor Learning UX/UI Design bootcamp is a 16-week part-time bootcamp that equips the students with the skills required to create a compelling and state of the art design and user experience, across devices and app types. It covers the entire process from user research, through prototyping with Figma until final deployment. The final three weeks involve building a professional grade project that can be shown off to prospective employers. Career support is also provided for students during their job search.
Location: Zurich, Munich, Bremen, Remote
Duration: part-time 16 weeks, Tue & Thu 18:00 – 21:00 and every second Sat 9:00 - 16:00 (CET)
Start dates: regular, every 6 months
Starting level: Beginner
Pricing details
9,200 CHF
Enrol in the best bootcamp to boost your career
Learning UX design doesn’t have to be through a formal degree. UX bootcamps offer a fast, convenient, and high-quality alternative to formal education, empowering you to learn at your own pace.
If you’re looking to improve your UX skills at your own pace and without breaking the bank — try Uxcel for free. The online lessons, courses, and career paths build your UX skills and knowledge, and the assessments and certifications help you highlight your strengths and land your dream UX role.