Thinkful provides a great support system to help every student reach their full potential. We’ve previously discussed how this bootcamp goes beyond just having passionate instructors, seasoned mentors, qualified career coaches, and diligent Academic Success Managers (ASMs).
Though we’ve covered many ways that Thinkful prepares its students for success, you may still be wondering how your time at this school will look. Learning how students truly feel during their daily routine may clarify what you can expect after enrollment, and so we’ve asked a student to share the story of her daily routine for the first time.
Explore your creative side with Thinkful’s UX/UI Design program, designed to help you create effective user-friendly experiences in six months or less.
Schedule a call with the Admissions team today.Thinkful’s UX/UI Design Program
Before we get to our student’s story, let’s explain the program that she attended at the school. Sabrina Jaen signed up for Thinkful’s UX/UI design program, a program that trains students to give users an irresistible experience with a product. The program combines two similar disciplines—user experience and user interface—that create the way a user feels about a product.
The user experience (UX) refers to any experience that a user has with a product. The experiences include learning about the product, interacting with it, and consistently coming back to it.
The user interface (UI) is the way that a user interacts with a product on a micro level, with buttons, layout, and more. UI designers work tirelessly to give the user the most effortless and enjoyable interactions with a product.
Thinkful’s UX/UI Design program covers a range of important topics in a five-month full-time structure or a six-month flexible part-time structure. Students learn how to research and design effective UX and UI experiences in five different modules before constructing a portfolio and launching their job hunt.
Students start their education with the fundamentals of UX/UI design. They learn what UX/UI designers do, how to conduct user research, and how to think of design from a user’s perspective. They then learn about the industry tools they’ll need to analyze data, formulate ideas, and create solutions.
In the next module, students learn to design their own products using a real-world case study. They start to familiarize themselves with industry-standard tools like Figma, Sketch, and Webflow while practicing their UX design skills.
They follow this module up by learning how to work as part of a team. They’ll study the best ways to communicate with stakeholders in various fields of a company while iterating on a design that pleases everyone.
Before diving into a final capstone project, students focus on their visual design craft. They learn about branding, usability, and accessibility, and how to incorporate these important topics into their pre-existing industry-ready design knowledge. All of these efforts culminate in a capstone project where students demonstrate their decision-making and design skills while iterating a product.
You’ll gain all of this valuable instruction at an affordable cost. The Thinkful cost for the full-time program is $12,150 upfront, while the part-time program costs $9,500 upfront. You can choose to offset the cost with several payment options, including deferred tuition, where you pay nothing until you’re earning at least $40,000 per year.
UX/UI Design Program Outcomes
The most common job titles that Thinkful graduates could earn after completing the program are UX designer, UX researcher, and product designer. Regardless of the role, companies are constantly hiring people with UX/UI design skills. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the job market for digital designers will grow by eight percent by 2029, double the median growth rate across the entire job market.
And you’ll be set with solid entry-level pay. UX designers can expect an entry-level salary of around $63,802, while UI designers can expect a salary of around $50,022, according to PayScale.
Though these numbers may sound attractive, Sabrina’s account of the road through Thinkful to a UX/UI design job should give you an idea of how your life will look as a Thinkful student and as a professional UX designer.
A Full-Time Thinkful Student’s Story
Sabrina was working on her Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design and Visual Experience Design when she started at Thinkful. She wanted to break into the UX design field but wasn’t sure where to begin. While researching ways to advance her craft, she found Thinkful.
“I decided to go with Thinkful because it gave me the option to receive a stipend while I worked in the full-time program,” Sabrina said. “This was super valuable for me because it allowed me to focus all my time and energy on the skills I wanted to learn without worrying about putting my livelihood at risk.”
In addition to the financial aspect, Sabrina also appreciated the opportunity to learn about the craft in an environment with great instructors and attentive classmates.
“The full-time program also looked like a place where I could collaborate with other creative individuals and find a safe space to refine my skills and to learn from experienced mentors and educators who would help me become a UI/UX designer,” Sabrina said.
The full-time program holds classes every weekday from 10am to 5pm EST. Because Sabrina was still attending college, she was used to regular attendance. However, she still needed time to adjust to the schedule.
“It was even more intense because in college you don’t necessarily have class every day,” Sabrina said. “With Thinkful, I had to make sure to be up at the same time every day and be ready for the material I would be covering.”
As Sabrina started her course, she was excited to be taking on a challenge that would improve her career outlook.
“At the beginning of the course, I was very excited to get started,” Sabrina said. “I knew I wanted to make good use of my time and money and I wanted to get to the end of the course knowing I gave it my all.”
Setting a Routine
Sabrina was definitely giving it her all. Besides waking up at the same time every day, Sabrina started to settle into a groove with the rest of her daily routine.
“I woke up every day 15 minutes before class and made myself some coffee. Then, I took notes of things I might need clarification with and made sure to have those questions answered during my class time so I could confirm I was doing things right,” Sabrina said.
“I also took notes of all the content we learned, to make sure I could revisit it and use it as a reference in the future. During class time I focused on the content, and after class was over, I would re-read everything and make sure I was clear about everything. I also would make sure to read ahead for the content we would be covering the next day, so that I would be prepared and know what would be discussed in class before showing up.”
Sabrina believes that Thinkful does a great job of giving students the tools and techniques they need to do well in the program.
“Thinkful introduced me to Notion, which was a game-changer because it allowed me to keep track of deadlines while setting small goals for myself every day,” Sabrina said. “Thinkful did a great job at setting me up for success when it came to preparing for my courses and helping me with time management.”
As Sabrina worked her way through the course, she felt that she actually had an advantage she didn’t expect by working on two programs at once.
“I started the course while I was still finishing my bachelor’s degree,” Sabrina said. “Doing both of them together actually helped me learn to work under pressure and to manage my time efficiently when there are a lot of projects happening at the same time.”
The time management aspect was key for Sabrina. She believes that setting a schedule is one of the most important things a student can do to take care of themselves and give their best effort.
“I actually started using my calendar a lot more and started blocking my time. I had time to eat, time to sleep, time to work out, and time to do work,” Sabrina said.
“Blocking out my time helped me to set boundaries for myself because as much as it’s fun to dedicate my entire life to a project, it is very important for me to take care of my health. So setting time for different things really helped with my physical and mental health and helped me feel more prepared and confident in my abilities to complete my tasks.”
As the program was coming to a close and Sabrina had already earned her degree, she was gaining both time and faith in her abilities.
“By the end of the course, I felt a lot better because Thinkful was the only thing I was focusing on, and I had completed my bachelor’s degree. I felt like I had learned so much already and felt a lot more confident about what I had to offer as a designer.”
Much of that confidence came from the help she received from Thinkful’s support system.
Thinkful Support
Students aren’t alone when they start their new course. As Sabrina stated, it was still a bit daunting for her to get used to learning online, despite her academic experience. But Thinkful’s ASMs work to ensure that each student is getting the help they need as they work their way through the program.
“Thinkful’s support system was invaluable towards my success in the course, from my ASM to my career coach,” Sabrina said. “Every single one of them helped me every step of the way so I could become successful in the course as well as be ready to find a job.”
Sabrina worked with her mentor more closely than with her TAs, but she appreciated every opportunity for support.
“My mentor was more familiar with the projects I was working on, and it felt like they could provide a bit more feedback since they had been following my projects from the beginning,” Sabrina said.
“The TAs were super helpful every time I did reach out to them. Sometimes I got stuck on an assignment or needed more help and they would make sure to help me within a couple of hours. I always felt like they were dedicated, and they did as much as they could to help me succeed.”
No matter which program you’re attending, there’s always someone you can reach out to for guidance and support at Thinkful. So if you’re worried about starting a new program, rest assured that there will always be someone there to give you the help you need.
How Thinkful Prepares Students for New Careers in Tech
Sabrina now works as a Product Manager/UX Designer at GABA. Her new role is completely online, just like her course at Thinkful. She credits the coursework at Thinkful for changing her career trajectory, but she also appreciates the opportunities she had to meet people in her program.
“I still feel like I have a connection to my peers and the wonderful people that went through the program with me, and I am able to reach out and learn more from them even after we completed the course,” Sabrina said.
“Most importantly, the UI/UX design skills that I learned at Thinkful are the reason I was able to land a UX position and even better, get promoted to a higher role early in my time at the company.” She feels that the habits she learned during her course also helped prepare her for her new role.
“My current job is 100 percent remote,” Sabrina said. “One of the biggest things I learned from the full-time program was learning to be proactive, even when no one is looking over your shoulder to make sure you get things done. I am still blocking my time efficiently to make sure I leave room for everything I need to do at work, as well as in my personal life.”
Sabrina’s personal and professional lives are in a great place, and she believes she has Thinkful to thank.
“The full-time program provided us with skills and also a lasting community,” Sabrina said. “We’re still cheering each other on and celebrating each other’s milestones. I enjoy feeling like I’m part of something special and I feel like Thinkful has so much potential to bring positive change to people’s lives.
“I know it made a big difference in the way I share my skills with the world and how confident I am in the workplace.”
Thinkful: Paving a Path for Exciting Careers in Tech
Whether you’re about to graduate college or still deciding on the right education path for you, Thinkful will give you everything you need to improve your life. You’ll have support to help set good working habits and learn the industry-standard tools you need to work in the industry.
If you’d like to learn more about what Thinkful has to offer, contact an Admissions Rep today.
About us: Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication.
