Springboard’s Design Learning Hub: A Review

by Alessandro Uribe-Rheinbolt

The world of UX/UI design can be daunting, and knowing where to start if you’re studying on your own is the first hurdle. It doesn’t help that there are an overwhelming number of beginner resources, either. People considering a career in UX/UI design can find blogs, podcasts, tutorials, and free courses galore, yet there’s no easy way to piece all of that information together to form a single cohesive career path. Recently, Springboard tried to solve that problem by launching a new, free learning platform called the Design Learning Hub.

What’s a Design Learning Hub?

The people at Springboard (a tech upskill and reskilling platform that helps people transition into design careers) know how hard it is to change careers. Over +3,500 people have enrolled with Springboard since 2018, all seeking a way to break into the industry. If someone is interested in design, they not only need to resonate with design topics, but evaluate whether the logistics of a design career would suit their needs, too.

The Design Learning Hub introduces beginners to both design education topics and career-focused content by splitting material into three sections: UI/UX career mapping, outlining things like salary benchmarking and responsibilities; fundamental design skills, for tutorials and courses; and introductory guides, to give true beginners career context. There are 9 free resources available, including salary guides, self-paced short courses, a wireframe tutorial, and a free 40 hour introductory UX design course all geared towards helping people interested in design decide if it’s the right career for them.

I was part of the team that created the Design Learning Hub, and I’m here to highlight the three resources I think design beginners are going to love:

1. Free UX Design Course

If you already know you like design but are looking for a more thorough understanding of the design process, the Free UX Design Course is the resource for you. At +40 hours of curricular content, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more thorough free design course anywhere. Self-paced and project-based, this course doubles as a great way for folks to check out how the Springboard platform works. However, the primary takeaway is a start to finish understanding of the UX design process, whether you intend to become a Springboard student or not. Here are some course modules to whet your pallet:

• Research Methods: User research is one of the UX designer’s key responsibilities, and this module walks you through research methods, how to ask good questions, and introduces personas as a presentation method for broader stakeholders.
• Design Tools Overview: Sketch, Figma, and Adobe’s suite of products are perhaps the most well known design tools essential in any toolkit; this module talks you through the differences between them, and how to choose the best fit for your project.
• 2-Part High Fidelity (Hi Fi) design: Taking ideas from sketches and low fidelity wireframes to fully loaded mockups may seem like an intimidating task, but this unit guides you through the ins and outs of high fidelity design, how it can help inform the development of your style guide, and how to prep for usability testing.

2. Interaction Design Course

The Interaction Design (IxD) Course (our newest resource) is a five-day course with a different lesson sent straight to your inbox every day, and explores how IxD relates to UI/UX, and what you should know before specializing. Starting with universal heuristics and design principles, this course guides you through the front and back end knowledge you’ll need to communicate your design effectively, as well as considerations for all user abilities and states. Unlike other resources in the Design Hub, beginners and more practiced designers can take something away from this email course. IxD can be a useful specialty for any UI/UX designer, especially if that designer wants to set themselves apart.

To make this course approachable, all projects are optional, but there is a quiz at the end to ensure retention. Here are some of the topics you’ll cover on the course:

• UI Elements: Explore user interface component categories, and how they are translated to HTML/ CSS
• Design Patterns: Learn how different UI elements are arranged to meet user expectations, and create a cohesive, structured design system
• User States: Understand how to design for each product state a user will encounter to make every interaction a productive one

3. Guide for Getting Your First Job in UX

The Get Your First Job in UX ebook is a 40-page, in-depth, empathetic guide answering every career-related question under the sun, peppered with quotes from industry veterans who have been there. From just thinking about entering the field, outlining a day-in-the-life of a designer, to overviewing different career paths with requisite hard and soft skills, to managing the interview process and types of roles you should apply for (with their salary ranges), this guide has answers for everyone.

Why You Should Check Out The Hub

A design career can be incredibly rewarding, and historically the design field has been a welcoming entry point to career transitioners. We made the Design Learning Hub to showcase the variety and depth of this career path, and make first steps accessible to everyone.

However, 2023 has thrown some very intimidating curve balls. Hundreds of thousands of tech workers have been laid off in the past few months, and a potential recession looms large. It’s a particularly stressful time to evaluate whether a new career is for you, let alone how to make it happen. Of the folks who have completed one of our free courses, over ⅓ say that motivation is their biggest online learning challenge right now, and uncertainty plays a large role in that challenge.

We made this hub to get people unstuck, to alleviate some of the stress and indecision surrounding today’s career decisions. Even if making the jump seems impossible, anyone can take a step towards a career they care about and a life they love. We hope the hub derisks that decision, for anyone interested in design. We’ll keep building and updating the hub until we’ve changed one million lives, and until then let us know what you think!