Over the past month, my #UXSyllabus education has been paused as I've been absorbed in an incredible educational experience with an immense amount of knowledge compacted into so little time.

I have immersed myself in the amazing online UX community but nothing compares to true collaboration/hands-on experience.

I had no idea what this series with Elize Presents, Adobe, and RCA Records entailed but I am so grateful I did it. The beautiful community created through this program pushed me to the limit, slashing through my imposter syndrome.

I was fortunate enough to connect & work with a team of the most inspiring, supportive, & talented designers from all over the world & founded a Telegram for some of us. (Still playing catch up on connections + messages.) I spent many caffeine-fueled nights on a multitude of design activities (see slide) synthesizing my data & rewatching user interviews repeatedly until I dreamt about them. Through trial & error I learned so much: start testing with mid-fi NOT high fi, say goodbye to assumptions and hello to user testing. 

Adobe XD was new to me -- I fought, and fell in love with it. (Highly recommend Howard Pinsky)

I was fortunate enough to be recognized by the Adobe Team as the “unofficial official TA” & to win Adobe Swag as a reward for my Team Spirit & collaboration. (nearly cried 😅) A highlight was being selected as one of 3 researchers to present my findings LIVE in front of 500+ people. To stand out so early in my career in a field filled with talented designers was a shock. As painfully shy as I am, I was hesitant to accept the opportunity, & I cannot express how grateful I am to have done so.

One would be hard-pressed to find a more motivating, authentic, & genuinely kind educator than Elize. Her presence is contagious, you can’t help but to feel at ease around her.  I was tremendously inspired&grateful to connect & collaborate live (Miro & affinity mapping) w/two incredibly talented women -- Lauren Stanton & Kimberly Tanny - major assets to this community.

Adobe offered a “real-life inspired project” with true constraints, and authentic uncanned feedback from awesome Adobe mentors (Akin Gundogan!) & through working with an amazing stakeholder (Leonardo Araujo) from RCA. I gained real-life XP from discovery to implementation to a case study of tangible solutions to real business goals.

This experience has provided me with a much-needed boost of self-confidence & self-assurance. I do have a place in this community & I am capable.  Forever grateful to all who made this opportunity possible!

I highly recommend following Elize + Adobe.

I’m not stopping here. As a result, I am eager to keep connecting, learning, attending lectures, working on projects, crafting my portfolio, & hopefully taking part in a designathon in the future while I continue to actively seek an apprenticeship.

Thanks so much for reading! The one thing I haven't mastered from this bootcamp is succinct writing 😅



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