A local community for diverse technology professionals is set to launch its first bootcamp created to bolster careers in UX and UI fields.
Dark Mode, founded in May by Lusenii Kromah, is a Charlotte-based community resource for tech workers including engineers, designers, founders, UX researchers, creatives, artists and HR employees. It conducts technical workshops, social events and bolsters entrepreneurs through ways such as mentorship and offering networking opportunities. Since its inception, Dark Mode has held eight events with more than 300 attendees.
That community is opening applications Nov. 24 to its 12-week, in-person tech bootcamp designed to offer participants the skills and experience needed to excel in the UX and UI industry. UX refers to the user experience design and UI is a term for user interface design. Both elements are vital to the development process of tech products.
The program, which runs Feb. 5 through April 24, will be taught by experts including Roderick Wilkins, a UX designer at Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC); Noelle Cheatam, a senior UX designer at MGM Resorts International; and Lindsey Morgan, a UX entrepreneur. It will be held at Tabbris' coworking space in Charlotte and has a $7,500 fee per applicant. The bootcamp will have 40 spots available.
"So as the community was growing, and I was looking for ways to sustain it and monetize it, I was like, 'OK, people are trying to break into this industry,'" Kromah said. "So I saw UX design as a way to launch our initial bootcamp. It’s a skill set that I know people would be able to freelance a lot quicker than something like software development."
Kromah has his own personal experience in the tech industry. He was a machine learning engineer at X, formerly Twitter, in California from 2018 to 2020 and contributed to virtual reality projects at Adobe. In 2020, he moved to New York and launched his own startup, The Hunt, which as of March is sunset as a result of macroeconomic conditions that impacted the tech industry.
Since moving back to Charlotte earlier this year, he started Dark Mode to be more involved locally and after he noticed many professionals were looking for an after-hours community.
"I just got a hunch that there were diverse professionals looking for community after work," he said. "Since its inception, I'd say there's three main pillars — community, coworking and now we're transitioning into courses."
Kromah said Dark Mode aims to generate $1 billion worth of economic impact in Charlotte's Black technology ecosystem, starting with the bootcamp courses. The program is suited for those who are interested in working in the creative side of the tech space.
One of the projects participants of the bootcamp will develop is a user-centric patient management system for Charlotte-based Mign, a 3D designer of medical wearables, Kromah said. The platform will manage the company's patient data, facilitate communication, and display personalized 3D models and scans.
"We want it to be a cohort of people who are motivated to do the work," he said. "Because the success of the program isn't the money that we generate, but the quality of students that we send out to the workforce."
