Should I Go To Grad School To Learn User Experience

Passion led us here

Photograph by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

When I motorbus inferior user researchers and designers, 1 question I'grand asked more frequently than whatsoever other is: "Do I need a Masters degree in UX?"

In good user researcher fashion, my usual response is to reply this question with a question: "Why exercise y'all want to practise a Masters?" I so listen carefully to their reply.

If they say something similar, "Because I love the field of UX and I want the opportunity to do a deep dive in theory and practice", then I encourage them to pursue their dream by taking an academic path.

But if they reply, "Considering I desire to improve my employment prospects and earn more money", and so I'm less sanguine almost their choice. If you desire only to improve your career prospects in UX or boost your salary, I believe there are amend ways to spend your coin and time.

Advantages of doing a Masters in UX

First, let'south review some of the advantages of pursuing a Masters degree in UX. Although I don't take a Masters in any subject, I do take a PhD in psychology, and so I capeesh the siren call of academic life. I'chiliad pleased I did my PhD since it made me a critical thinker and gave me the opportunity to read and think deeply about a topic over a period of 3 years. And so it's definitely the right choice in certain situations.

In item, spending a year doing a Masters degree volition assist y'all:

Proceeds a practiced grounding in the academic 'received wisdom' of UX.
Permit you lot to ignore commercial pressures when doing your enquiry. This means you can brand your own decisions on what to do, without a pesky projection manager telling yous there'southward no budget or no time. If you love the field of UX and desire to immerse yourself in it unfettered by the constraints of existent world projects, you'll dear doing a Masters.
Do a deep dive in one specific expanse of UX that may excite you. Completing a dissertation is a notable achievement and shows what you tin can evangelize when you lot are given the freedom to plan and deliver UX work.
Spend a year with like-minded people talking most UX. This can be specially useful if you work as a 'UX Team of 1', experience isolated in your role or go through periods where you feel uninspired.
Defend your enquiry and pattern ideas against your tutors and peers who may know considerably more than than you lot about UX.
Decide if you want to practise a PhD in the field and practice further academic enquiry.
Get a salary boost. Holding a masters degree adds about $4k to your salary in the UX field. Simply if a salary boost is your merely aim, keep reading.

Before yous choose that Masters in UX, answer these questions

I believe at that place are iii questions y'all need to answer before making the determination to take a Masters in UX:

Does your chosen employer value a Masters in UX?
Can yous beget a Masters in UX?
Is the curriculum relevant?

Does your chosen employer value a Masters in UX?

If your research shows that the organisation yous want to join is asking for a Masters, that'due south evidently a proficient reason to do one. Simply the field of UX is then new that many organisations increasingly value feel over qualifications.

For case, I spoke with Ian Fenn, author of 'Designing a UX Portfolio: A Practical Guide for Designers, Researchers, Content Strategists, and Developers'. Ian told me that his research shows hiring managers do value Masters degrees but they value comparable piece of work experience fifty-fifty more highly. He argues that it's networking and enthusiasm that will get you lot your first function, not an academic qualification.

I also spoke with Lisa Murnan, author of 'How to Get a UX Design Job'. Lisa said, "Nosotros're seeing the need for a Masters degree less and less. When I was researching this topic for my volume, I discovered that many UX design job postings don't mention educational requirements at all, or simply say, 'Bachelor's caste or equivalent experience.' It sometimes comes upwardly in chore postings for UX researchers but even then most hiring managers seem fine waiving that requirement so long as information technology's clear that you know what you're talking virtually and accept the experience and skills to back it up."

Can you lot beget a Masters in UX?

In addition, taking on a Masters caste is not for the faint hearted. You lot'll want to consider the fiscal cost and the time yous'll demand to invest. The financial cost will vary from institution to institution but equally a benchmark, the tuition fees for UCL's 'Human being-Computer Interaction' Masters is �10,740 (�25,880 if you lot are outside the EU).

As regards the time, to gain the virtually benefit from a Masters, y'all'll probably want to do it full fourth dimension, which tin can take one-two years. Merely this can require a get out of absence from your chore or fifty-fifty resigning. If yous have a good task with adept prospects, this makes it very hard to take the leap.

In particular, you lose fourth dimension that could be spent gaining feel. Enquiry shows that each year of experience you accept in UX adds about $1900 to your base salary. And then if information technology takes 2 years to get your masters this is no more do good than gaining ii years' applied work experience. And if your aim is to heave your bacon, you might be amend off moving to another country. The country (and region for the US) has the biggest bear upon on what you go paid. The median salary in the United states is $110k, compared to $104k in Switzerland, $67k in the U.k., $65k in Canada, $61k in Deutschland, $44k in France, and $33k in India. Or move to a bigger company: in the United states of america, salaries at companies with fewer than x employees are paid around $20k less than the equivalent positions at larger companies (above 1,000 employees).

Is the curriculum relevant?

I mentioned above that a Masters is a adept way to gain a grounding in the academic 'received wisdom' of UX. Merely UX is not an academic discipline. Many, if not most, of the advances in user inquiry and design have tended to originate from commercial enterprises (call up Xerox Parc). This is because UX is inherently a practical discipline. Universities rarely have their finger on the pulse of manufacture. This means your Masters in UX could date very quickly since it will either comprehend yesterday's technologies, approaches and fashions or be based on incorrect assumptions about which technologies will be most of import in the future. As a consequence, in the absence of relevant piece of work experience, the chances are slim that your Masters in UX will give you lot practical, real-globe feel.

One expanse where this is particularly of import is in evolution methodologies. Nowadays, about every organisation develops software using an agile methodology, like Scrum. Yous can't do UX work on these projects without an understanding of how to make it fit within a Scrum framework. Gone are the halcyon days where you could spend weeks doing up-front user enquiry and design work. You lot demand to deliver your UX work within the cadence of a two-week sprint. This isn't something typically taught in a Masters in UX just it's fundamental to being an effective practitioner.

An alternative 'Masters' in UX

Given hiring managers' preference for street smarts over book smarts, are there other means of gaining experience, such as through self-study and networking? Afterward all, yous could proceeds a lot of experience in the 1 or two years y'all spend on a Masters. But where do you start?

I recommend treating it like a project. If y'all're considering spending over �10k on your educational activity, ask what else you tin practise with that money that might offer more value. Imagine you were writing a proposal for your UX education with a �10k budget: what would yous do?

Here are some ideas you might want to consider. You could easily do all of these activities for less than 10% of the overall spend on a Masters.

Kickoff with an inventory of your UX skills

A good first pace is to have your portfolio and CV reviewed to observe your strengths and weaknesses.

Find a trusted advisor or 'critical friend' to give y'all an independent assessment of your abilities � or alternatively, pay someone who offers this service. You lot don't necessarily need to meet in person: a Skype meeting or fifty-fifty a telephone phone call would piece of work. The important point of this review is that information technology needs to be critical: if you ask a friend or colleague, yous may find they don't provide the objectivity you need.

If you can't notice a disquisitional friend or can't afford to pay someone to appraise your skills, use the worksheet in this article to assess your UX skills.

Become a broad understanding of the fundamentals of UX

There are many differing definitions of 'user feel' and this can make information technology difficult to appreciate what y'all are expected to know. So it'southward worth reviewing an canonical syllabus that covers the fundamentals of UX. In that location are two proficient ones to choose from, both of which take the process model in ISO 9241-210 as their starting indicate:

You tin take courses that encompass these syllabi in person or online (via Udemy) or you could but download the syllabus of one of these certification schemes for free and utilize information technology as a framework for cocky study.

(Disclosure: we run grooming courses in the BCS Foundation Certificate).

Create a customised learning program

One time yous empathize the scope of UX and you know your own strengths and weaknesses, you tin now create a tailored programme of study that'south perfect for yous. Imagine you lot were designing a Masters that was tailored just for you lot: what would you lot cover?

For example, the syllabus for the BCS Foundation Certificate in UX is structured around these areas:

Guiding Principles
User Research
Illustrating the Context of Utilize
Measuring Usability
Data Compages
Interaction Design
Visual Pattern
User Interface Prototyping
Usability Evaluation

Your portfolio review will prove strengths in some areas and weaknesses in others. Don't waste time learning what you already know but spend the time more productively by addressing your weaknesses.

At that place are dozens of cheap and free online courses in UX equally well as books by the shelf load. Dive in!

Network at cheap or free UX events

You want to ensure that your learning doesn't have identify in a vacuum. Being open to new means of thinking about UX is central to your instruction, so attend some UX events happening nearly you. Many of these are free, such as evening talks organised past organisations like the UXPA and NUX. You'll find other ane-day events that attract great speakers where payment is required but these are nevertheless relatively inexpensive to nourish (especially relative to the cost of a Masters). These events also give you lot the opportunity to network with people and this in plow gives you the opportunity to get the within track on jobs in UX.

Invite some guest speakers into your dwelling house

Nigh Masters degrees volition include one-hr lectures from visiting speakers. Don't think you demand to miss out on these. Instead, draw up your wish list of people y'all would similar to hear speak. Then at a fixed time every week (say Friday at 3pm) review i of the conference talks freely available online. If you can't find your called speaker, plough to resources similar UIE'due south 'All Yous Tin Larn' library where yous tin can get paid access to excellent content from leaders in the field.

Build your prototyping skills

Any your role in user experience, you lot need to be able to create a mock-up: either to illustrate your blueprint idea or but to put something in front end of people who can evaluate it for you lot. Knowing how to prototype is a bit like being a adept cook: people will always find room for y'all on a camping ground trip.

We are living in a kind of renaissance for prototyping tools: non a calendar week goes by without a new tool being developed by someone. You tin learn the basics of these tools fairly hands. Download trial versions of tools like Sketch, Axure, Adobe XD and InVision and decide which 1 suits you all-time. And so follow along with videos on the developers' spider web sites.

Create your own dissertation

A key part of a Masters degree is writing a dissertation, which shows a candidate's ability to think independently and demonstrate their skills and abilities. You can practise the same matter with your 'personalised' Masters. Hither are some ideas:

If you're currently working, do some skunk works UX in your electric current job. What, in an platonic world, should your organisation be doing in UX? Which parts of this could you practice yourself if y'all came into work an hr early a couple of days a week?
Contact a local clemency and offering to usability test and redesign their web site to increment donations. Or contact a local start-upwardly and offer your help testing their product.
Choose an application or spider web site that you know well and that y'all feel needs improvement and examination and re-design it. If you're looking for blueprint problems to work on to demonstrate your UX chops, here'south a list of 100 pattern exercises.

Decision

If you lot dearest the field of UX and want the opportunity to do a deep swoop in theory and practise, then a Masters in UX will be a good selection for you. But earlier making the bound, consider creating your ain self-paced, personalised syllabus. This has the opportunity to be more fulfilling, more useful and considerably cheaper than the academic alternative.