Springboard

I had been interested in getting into Data Science for a while and was looking for an online course that would enable me to study at my own pace while also working full-time. I was choosing between the Springboard Data Science Intensive course and the Udacity Nanodegree...what ultimately tipped me in favour of the Springboard course was the opportunity to have weekly video calls with an industry mentor.

Overall I was very satisfied with my decision to enroll in the course and found it worthwhile and good-value-for-money.   I think I ended up taking a little longer than the 'average' amount of time to complete the course, however this was my own decision and ultimately enabled me to dedicate more time to my capstone project as well as study some extra-curricular materials under the guidance of my mentor.   Regarding the course content, I thought that the selection of materials was in general very good, especially given the attempt to squeeze such a large amount of material into a short amount of time. I particularly enjoyed the Machine Learning and Data Storytelling materials from Harvard CS 109. Probably the one area where I would have enjoyed a deeper dive is in Statistics, particularly including some Bayesian methods.   In terms of the level of skills or knowledge required, all my programming experience was self-taught, however in general I did not encounter any significant problems and was able to complete all of the course requirements without difficulty.   In summary I think the Data Science Intensive course is a great introduction to Data Science. It certainly does not 'make' you into a Data Scientist but I think it really helps to lay the foundations for understanding the Data Science landscape and beginning to work on related problems.

Perhaps more than anything, it also helped me to grow in confidence and realise that Data Science is not just necessarily for people with PhDs, but is a field that can be accessible to people from varied backgrounds. I already find myself using techniques and tools that I learned during the course to be more effective in my work.

I initially signed up for this course because I felt that while I had analytical aptitude, I lacked the opportunity to demonstrate it in my current work environment at the time.   This course turned out to be exactly what I needed to turn that situation around for me.

The case study nature of this course, along with my mentors support, gave me what felt like actual on-the-job experience.  I now feel confident on job interviews that I have valid analytical projects/experiences under my belt, both to talk to and to draw from....projects that I learned from, projects that I made mistakes on but still recovered from, projects and time-frames that were challenging yet achievable, some projects that I liked more than others, and definitely projects that I am proud of accomplishing.

Additionally, with this course, I started off thinking it was my technical skill set that I wanted/needed to build up in order to keep myself marketable in the workforce.  The best thing about this program is that it shifted my focus to developing a problem-solving mindset above all else.  Then, the technical skillset became the second nature skill that supported the objective of modelling a solution to a busines problem in order to help a business achieve a business goal important to them.

Overall, while this course does require a dedicated effort, I have no regrets whatsoever in my decision, first to enroll, then to follow through in completing the course, and now to recommend it to others.

For a few years I had been considering switing from an Art Director/graphic designer position to a UX design focused role. Because I was pretty familliar with the industry and process I wanted a course that would teach me enough to give me the confidence and some portfolio pieces to actually apply for UX positions, without having to go back to college. 

It took me about 3 months to complete the course and because I was really diligent about updating my portfolio constantly with new work , I was able to land a job as a UX designer before completing my last week of the class!

The course curriculum is structured in a way that naturally walks you through the UX design process. You definitely have to stay motivated enough to sign on everyday and complete your tasks. The content gives you a really solid foundation of the UX feild, some which I knew and a lot I didnt. I really appreciated that as new content came out into the world the course integrated it in. 

My mentor was probably the best part! She was extremely knowledgeable Not only did I look forward to speaking with her every week, but I learned so much from her that wasnt included in the curriculum. She gave me the guidance and critique I needed to take my projects to a more professional level. 

 

I was looking for ways to break into the UX field and knew I needed a portfolio to be considered for a position. I didn't really know how to go about it but when I discovered Springboard helped build a portfolio with a mentor, I took the opportunity. It's very reasonably priced especially since you can finish at your own pace. I took two months to reduce cost and simulate a real world scenario of being on a deadline. 

UX Design Office hours were very helpful gleaning anything I can from the mentor interviews, general Q & A's, and design challenges. Fabio and Emily are very engaging and helpful. I still participate after graduating and I learn something new during every session. Catherina was an awesome student advisor as well always prompt in her responses and flexible when needing more time on things. 

Biggest asset is the Mentorship which is mostly where the value in the course is. I was fortunate to get paired up with a great mentor with lots of experience. He was gracious enough to extend our calls longer than the average of 30 minutes. We built great rapport and he really helped guide me in the right direction through letting me figure it out on my own with the questions he would ask instead of telling me how I should do it. 

The course definitely helped lay a foundation of UX where I can continually build on it. I've received responses from companies and have done a few interviews so it has made a difference. Just put in the hard work and it'll show.

I often read online articles on books relating to graphic design and UX but it can be hard to find really great trustworthy content. Springboard took that pain away by curating a well rounded basis for UX designers. However the true value to this course is the one-on-one mentorship calls and the group office hours calls. This was a huge added value to gain insights from industry professionals with many years experience.

As a design industry professional I wanted a course that would suit my existing level of knowledge to keep me engaged whilst delving further into UX, which Springboard has succeeded in. This course is a great option for complete beginers and for those who already have some intro knowledge.

 

 

Springboard really do an amazing job, from the management down to the curriculum. Their communications in listening and improving their courses is incredible. The mentors are experts in their fields and give you great insight.

I felt the mentors and also the management team/representatives were really good people. The mentors give you feedback throughout your project through email and weekly one-on-one meetings.

The curriculum itself was challenging enough to keep you busy and also gave a great array of resources on the subject. The platform was really impressive. It was smooth, easy to follow and understand, not glitchy at all. One of the best online platforms I've experienced, and that's important.

I also liked that it was monthly, so you go at your own pace and this leaves the responsibility on the student themselves on the pace and dedication to their coursework.

I  really enjoyed the experience.

I really enjoyed my springboard course. I was able to learn a lot about data science at my own pace in my own time. I do have a background in programming and mathematics so I found the material relatively easy to take on. The mentoring element was what attracted me to the course and also what I found very helpful. Being able to talk to and get feedback from an expert data scientist was invaluable. I now intend to use my experience with springboard to help me find a job as a data scientist.

Hello; I came to Springboard from a recommendation from a fellow teacher. I am a graphic designer with over thirty years experience in Print design. This was an excellent course introducing me to the functions of The User Experience Designer.

Interviews, Surveys, Sorts, Personas, User Maps, User Flows, Site Maps, Wireframes and Usability testing all performed during a short period of time. All great experiences for someone who wanted to learn the UX process!

The course materials were up to the moment, and my mentor was fantastic. We developed a good working rapport on our weekly sessions which made the material very easy to digest.

Adding the workshop created a lot of interest on my LinkedIn profile and resume. I have been contacted by some top notch people, and am looking forward to incorporating what I learned into my work.

I will start off by introducing myself - I am currently working as a software test analyst with absolutely zero knowledge of te field of UX. I was not hapopy with my job and wanted to learn something new, do something creative and moved towards the field of UX. I did a lot of research on the web on courses to take and came across this one. There were a lot of good reviews about the course and like everybody, I too though they might be fake. As a student at Springboard myself - I can assure you, they are NOT! These guys are just that good.

The team at springboard is simply amazing. They assign you a mentor who will guide you throughout the process, and believe me they are highly accomplished people with very busy schedules, but they will find time for you. I email my mentor like 3:00AM in the morning(literally) and his is the very first email I receive the next day - they are just that helpful. We have  student board advisor as well and she too is awesome. If you reach out to her for something, trust me you will get a response in next 5 minutes!

They have really really helpful. Though I have not completed the course yet, so can not comment on getting a job in the field, although I am sure it will turn up to be good. But, it has been an amazing learning experience and I would encourage all of you to enroll :)

I've enrolled in other online data analytics courses but this is the first one I completed!

Having a mentor helped me

• stay motivated
• get through roadblocks
• stick to a timeline and make progress every week. 
• apply learnings to my day job or other related topics that interest me

The content aligned with a bunch of new projects I was taking on in my sales ops role. Since my company didn't have capacity to train me, they agreed to pay for the course. 

The online content Springboard curated was all relevant and on point. The case studies built on the readings, and I was impressed/excited with the real world problems I could solve with the tools!

Now that I'm on the other side, I'm comfortbale using SQL, Tableau, and Excel to tackle just a data problem. But I will miss my mentor!

I'd recomend the course to anyone who wants to get a grip on data processing tools, learn what problems they can tackle with data, and doesn't have a big team of data experts/mentors at their company. 

I'll definitely look to springboard when I'm ready to level-up. 

I took the UX Design course because I was about to wade into a major ecommerce platform shift at work and I wanted to be able to make the right design decisions. I got all of that and more. When you're dealing with programmers and designers without a clear UX understanding, the course comes in really handy. It was also helpful in terms of laying out ways to figure out what you need to know. I even learned to use some new tools. 

The best part was probably the Springboard people. The mentors were helpful, and the office hours were great. You learn a lot watching a few UX experts tear apart someone's project in an extremely constructive way. Ultimately the Springboard people care about what they're doing, and helping you succeed is part of their mission.

I feel like the course laid a foundation that I'll keep returning to and building on.