The Twitter Debate That Won’t Die

“Formal education? Nah, just vibes!”—or at least that’s what my Twitter feed would have me believe lately. And with the explosion of UX bootcamps, online courses, and hackathons, the question pops up more than a Chrome update: Do you really need a design degree to become a proper User Experience Designer?

UX—Easy on Paper, Hard in Real Life

UX sounds glamorous: sticky notes, empathy maps, and endless coffee. But, spoiler alert: doing UX right is hard. Like “convincing a cat to take a bath” hard. Reading about it is one thing, but wrangling stakeholders, staying in the problem zone, and herding humans towards actual empathy? Not in the least bit glamorous.

DIY UX Education – Mind the Gap!

You’ve probably read: “You don’t need a formal design education.”

And it’s true… sometimes. If you’re one of those rare unicorns with the right mindset, you might skip the degree. But even then, you’ll still need a strong foundation. If your mindset is more “move fast and break things” than “why is the door confusing?”, a crash course just isn’t going to cut it.

Hackathons, Bootcamps & Mindset Mishaps

Here’s the thing about hackathons: any Tom, Dick, or Harry can join. No one checks if you’ve got the designer’s mindset. Am I gatekeeping? Maybe. Am I right? Also maybe.

If you don’t have the mindset, you’ll need longer, deeper training—think one or two years—with real mentors. Six-month bootcamps may give you a glimpse, but real change in thinking takes time. You have to unlearn old habits, not just watch YouTube tutorials at 2x speed.

Too Much Empathy, or Not Enough?

My university degree had a whole module on mindful design—a few months dedicated to getting empathy right, not just “walk a mile in their shoes,” but also “don’t trip over your own biases.” Without this, it’s all too easy to slip into designing for yourself, not for users.

A Door Is Not Just a Door

Pre-degree: “Wow, this user is clueless. Just push the door!”
Post-degree: “Hang on… How many people are getting this wrong? Why is the door confusing? Maybe it’s the door, not the user.”
Big mood shift, right? (Thanks Don Norman for making me rethink all my doors.)

The Thing About Hackathon Teachers…

Heard about instructors who never worked as designers—just finished a bootcamp themselves, and are now teaching others? Makes my design heart ache. Would you trust a chef who’s only watched MasterChef?

So, What’s the TL;DR?

If you can get a proper design education—do it. Not just for the fancy diploma, but for systematically rewiring how you solve problems. It’s worth the time and the late-night existential crises.

But If You Can’t… Here’s the Real Hack

If full-time study isn’t your thing (life happens!), hunt for a mentor—a real one, not just someone who’ll exchange DMs once a month. Ideally, shadow them. Sit in the trenches. See real design work, warts and all. And maybe hold off on calling yourself a UX designer for three years—you’ll probably look back and cringe at your early work, and that’s perfectly normal.

Surviving Stakeholder Therapy

One last thing they don’t teach you in crash courses: what to do when your user interview turns into a free therapy session (for them and for you). Sometimes the hardest part is just processing the stuff you hear—and yes, even therapists need therapists.

Big Takeaways (Without the Buzzwords)

A degree isn’t the only way in. But beware the shortcuts—anyone can learn the jargon, but few stick around long enough to grow the right mindset.

Find mentors, be patient, stay humble. Remember: sometimes a bad door just needs redesigning, not a smarter user.