Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about “levelling up.” Maybe it’s the market, maybe my LinkedIn algorithm is tuned to doomscroll, but between rising layoffs, endless rejection stories, and “do we even need UX designers anymore?” hot takes, it’s hard not to feel the pressure.

I’ve always been a self-taught, curious type - constantly exploring new skills and side projects. But right now, it feels like the learning needs to happen faster than ever.

That’s had me weighing my options: do I go all-in on a big, shiny ‘Learning Experience Design’ qualification, or keep building on what I already have? I seriously considered one - over $3,000 and more than a year of structured content, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised:

a) I’ve already done a lot of formal study
b) I need to move quickly
c) I learn best by doing

And honestly, both in UX and beyond - people make leaps through hands-on projects, solid portfolios, and reframing the skills they already had. It’s pretty well known that a lot of companies value practical experience and tangible work just as much (sometimes more) than a certificate.

So, what’s the plan?

Well, I decided to make a course. Not take one, make one.

That way, I can:

• learn by building
• test ideas in real-time
• and turn this into something tangible for my portfolio

And while this is a new skill area, it overlaps heavily with my UX work - things like mapping user journeys, designing clear interactions, and making complex ideas easy to understand all translate perfectly into Learning Design.

Of course, then I had to figure out what to make a course about.

I knew I wanted to start with something relevant and grounded in real work experience - something I’ve thought a lot about over the last few years. The kind of thing that comes up in team conversations, design critiques, 360 reviews… you get the idea.

And then it hit me: feedback.

Giving it, receiving it, making it constructive (and not soul-destroying). It’s something that comes up constantly- especially for junior designers - and not everyone’s great at it. I still remember some truly unhelpful art school critiques (shoutout to the tutor who thought “what is this supposed to be?” was constructive).

But feedback can be a good thing. When it’s done well, it helps people grow. Both the person giving, and the one receiving. And that’s something I care about - whether I’m mentoring a teammate or just trying to be a better collaborator.

So, here we are. I’m building a mini-course on how to give constructive feedback at work. And learning how to learn as I go.