Survey: Help Us Shape Outwitly Academy 🚀
We’re designing Outwitly Academy, a platform to help designers and researchers like you grow, lead, and deliver impactful results. This short 5–7 minute survey will help us understand your challenges and what you’d value most in a training and development platform. Your feedback will help shape the next generation of design leaders.
Section 1: Background
1. What is your current role in design or research? (Select all that apply)
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UX Designer
UX Researcher
UI Designer
UX Strategist
Service Designer
Design Researcher
Director/Manager/Leader
Other (Please specify)
2. How many years of experience do you have in the design field?
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Less than 2 years
2–5 years
6–10 years
More than 10 years
3. What skills are you most focused on improving or learning? (Select up to 3)
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Customer Journey Mapping
Service Blueprinting
Persona Development
Creating and Presenting Portfolios / Design Shareouts
Usability Testing, User Interviews, Surveys, Card sorting
Making Research Actionable (e.g., creating deliverables that drive change)
Design Storytelling
Systems Thinking / Ecosystem Design
Working as a Freelancer (and the business of design)
Getting Stakeholder Buy-in and Influencing Decisions (i.e, speaking to ROI, UX value impact)
Learning how to take that next step and advance my career
Becoming a better leader and getting the most from my IC’s
Workshop Facilitation
AI in Design
Tools and software (e.g., Figma, Miro, AI tools)
Other (Please specify)
Section 2: Current Challenges
4. What are the biggest challenges you face in your career right now? (Select up to 5)
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Managing stakeholders and getting buy-in for your work
Low organizational design/research maturity
Doing work outside of a research or design function (such as PO or project management work)
Too many meetings and not enough time to do actual work
Not able to talk to real users or designing on assumptions
Being “told” what to design by Product Managers/Owners or burning out on feature design work
Lack of direction or prioritization from higher-ups
Making research or design actionable in real-world constraints
Gaps in technical skills (e.g., usability testing, service blueprinting)
Balancing work-life and project demands
Career advancement and leadership opportunities
Limited networking or mentorship opportunities
Staying updated with new tools and methods
Other (Please specify)
5. How do you currently address these challenges? (Open-ended)
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Section 3: Learning Preferences
6. Which type of training or development formats do you most prefer? (Select up to 2)
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Self-paced online courses
Live workshops with hands-on activities
One-on-one mentorship
Group coaching sessions
Bite-sized lessons (e.g., short videos)
In-person networking events
Remote networking events
7. What’s most important to you when choosing a training platform? (Select up to 3)
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Flexibility (self-paced vs. scheduled)
Practical tools and real-world applications
Access to instructors/mentors
Credentials or certifications
Price
Practical projects or assignments
Other (Please specify)
Section 4: Willingness to Invest
8. How likely are you to invest in a training platform designed BY designers & researchers FOR designers & researchers? (The platform will focus on helping you navigate real-world design constraints, using insights to drive action, getting the buy-in needed to make your voice heard across the organization, and finding practical ways to advance your career!)
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Very likely
Somewhat likely
Neutral
Unlikely
Very unlikely
9. What price range would you find reasonable for such a platform? (Potential platform offerings include online pre-recorded training videos delivered by experienced designers and researchers, various courses covering everything from UX 101 to advanced UX and HCD topics, downloadable templates and guides, an interactive and engaging community, group coaching, 1:1 mentorship, portfolio audits, etc.)
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Under $50/month
$50–$100/month
$100–$200/month
Over $200/month
10. Have you invested in training or professional development in the past?
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Yes
No
11. What did you like most about these programs? (Select all that apply)
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Recognized & credible certification
Coaching (1:1)
Timeline to complete coursework
Instructor was knowledgeable and credible
Affordable pricing
Relevant course material
Networking opportunities
Take-home artifacts/templates
Homework/assignments
Learned something new
Other (Please specify)
12. What did you dislike or find unhelpful about these programs? (Select all that apply)
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Lack of certificate credibility
No 1:1 coaching/mentorship
Not enough time to complete the work
Instructor lacked knowledge and real-world experience
Too expensive
Irrelevant course material
Courses were superficial or lacked depth
No networking opportunities
No take-home artifacts/templates
Did not learn anything new
Other (Please specify)
13. If you had a magic wand, what would you most like to change or get help with to improve your UX career and make your job more satisfying? (Select all that apply)
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Managing stakeholders and getting buy-in for your work
Overcoming low organizational design/research maturity
Better design or research operations and standardized tools/processes
Reducing the amount of time spent on validating assumptions
Making research or design actionable
Overcoming gaps in technical skills (e.g., usability testing, service blueprinting)
Balancing work-life and project demands
Understanding how to advance my career
Learning how to be a better leader
Growing my network
Access to mentors/coaches to bounce ideas off
Staying updated with new tools and methods
Other (Please specify)
Section 5: Stay Connected
14. Would you like to participate in future feedback sessions to help shape Outwitly Academy?
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Yes
No
15. If yes, please provide your email address so we can reach out to you: (Open-ended)
Submit
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