Case Study - Tech Fleet

When I was in graduate school for UX I started working on an Agile software team. It was eye-opening to say the least. I quickly learned a couple hard truths about the world: 

1. Not everyone understands UX or is bought into the work we do, and that's ok.
2. The Design Thinking process that I was learning in school isn’t always applicable in the industry exactly as we’re taught. 

On the job, I had to bend and break a lot of “rules” I learned in school. I had to unlearn (and re-learn) the UX process I was being taught in school in order to successfully apply it on Agile teams. By the time I had finished grad school I was applying Lean UX and orchestrating Agile UX strategy while orchestrating product delivery. I, like many others, had to work to overcome the missing skills between education and the real world. While school gave me a powerful foundation, I had to fill the gap myself to be ready for the Agile software world on a product team. I started Tech Fleet so that I could help foster the industry skills that are expected of UX’ers on software teams in the world, and give them a 100% genuine taste of product life.

Tech Fleet started as a pro bono agency for UX research, UX design, and product management and now takes on so much more. We’ve taken on more complex and invigorating project work over time. Over the years the community has grown with more members and more clients.

As of the 2 year mark, over 70 people have taken Tech Fleet apprenticeships and went into full-time roles. We've served UX researchers, UX writers, UX designers, product designers, project managers, product managers, product owners, and developers into the world so far.