ACADEMY XI ANNOUNCES EXPANSION; DEVELOPING NEW ZEALAND'S NEXT WAVE OF UX DESIGN TALENT
Announcement posted by Academy XI 03 May 2016
SYDNEY – May 3rd, 2016 – Academy XI (pronounced Ex-Eye), one of Australia’s budding innovative educational institutions is changing the world through design. They announced that they will be launching new courses in Auckland, New Zealand. Academy XI will soon offer Aucklanders the opportunity to grow and expand their design expertise through part-time courses in User Experience (UX) Design with a full-time immersive course being introduced later in the year. Their short intensive courses are programmed to allow anyone to break into a new career or add on to their existing skillsets in pursuit of a new title or better employment.
Although Academy XI is a newer start-up, its two founders have been involved in UX education in leading providers for over 3 years and with a combined experience of 20 years in design and innovation. They bring a wealth of User Experience (UX) Education knowledge having set-up and run UX Design courses in Sydney, both for individuals and corporates. The founders created Academy XI because they had a passion for changing the world through education with empathy and problem solving. User Experience Design which embodies these traits are skills that are lacking throughout Asia Pacific. Particularly New Zealand with its rapid innovation growth, the talent needs of agencies, consultancies, corporates and startups are not being met.
"I've spoken to a number of employers, recruiters and design thought leaders who have told me that they're looking for people with UX skills, but they can't find enough of them" said Ben Wong, Academy XI Co-founder.
The courses are run over 10 weeks and are intended to give a participant the entire skill-set needed to add ‘UX Designer’ to their title. The approach is intense, applied and modular. Learning UX gives participants the skills they need to identify usability problems and develop and design experiences that are effective and successful. Although having design skills is complimentary, a passion for problem solving has proved more valuable for some people without a design background.
"Companies are creating more and more interfaces that require seamless and intuitive experiences, as things like virtuality reality develop further, we're also going to be designing experiences for another world" said Charbel Zeaiter, Academy Xi Co-founder.
The importance of UX is becoming increasingly recognised by employers and businesses – its essential to hone a user’s experience and optimising usability to stay ahead of the pack.
“I took the drastic step to pack up and move to Sydney in December to study UX Design. It was one of the best decisions of my life. I would have preferred to stay in New Zealand to do a course.“ said Oliver Bannatyne, Digital Product Manager.
For those interested in learning more about UX design, they're taking a 1-minute application of interest. They will be in touch with more information.
https://academyxi.typeform.com/to/JIpVSZ
About Academy XI
Academy Xi provides short, practical courses for people to develop skills in design, business, and innovation, transform their careers and create positive social impact.
Xi is forward thinking, integrating future trends and emerging technology into current and in demand skills. We believe that empowering people with practical, actionable skills will lead to improving life for others and ultimately change the world.
Media contact
Ben Wong, Director
C: +61 4 1599 8956