New year, new goals, new us. Ideate Labs Wrapped.

An open letter to our beloved Ideate Labs community from Samaya:

I wanted to let our beloved community know that I am are pausing all operations of Ideate Labs. It is a bittersweet moment, but inevitable. Myself and our mentors are so grateful for this community of eager and ambitious UX learners who are ready to conquer the world with their passion and their ideas. You inspire us every single day, which is why we do what we do. To serve YOU.

Ideate Labs is going through organizational changes and it seems its best for everyone that we start FRESH in the new year. Unfortunately, my co-founder and I have parted ways because we no longer have the same vision or values. I think this means a new start for each of us, new adventures, new beginnings.

But before I talk about new beginnings, I want to share an Ideate Labs Wrapped for you and all the memories this community has brought us. We started this community by hosting over 400+ live events and bringing you fresh takes on the state of UX with each passing year. We’ve enjoyed the rollercoaster ride that is UX mentorship, the ups and downs of prepping for the UX job search, getting a few no’s, getting discouraged, and then finally landing that dream UX role.

I think in the state of the world we live in, it can become easy to live in a fear and scarcity mindset. However, I hope that your 2025 is filled with courage, abundance, and always wishing, hoping, and dreaming for the promise of something better to come. Never give up on your UX dreams and hopes, and let the naysayers say what they have to say.

Remember, you don’t need anyone’s permission to create, or call yourself a UX designer or UX researcher. You have to really, truly feel it and believe it to make others believe in you!

So what’s going to happen moving foward?

I will continue to provide support to our current students and anyone who reaches out to me looking for support in their UX journey. I am particularly excited to create a brand specialized in all things AI product design, AI tools for design, UX management, UX stakeholder management, business strategy, UX entrepreneurship, and service design.

I definitely plan to keep creating :) I can’t help it!

If you would like to follow my journey, I have founded UX Woman, an organization dedicated to providing UX education for women, BIPOC, immigrants, and the LGBTQ community. I have been working with our mentors and educators to bring you BRAND NEW UX design, UX research, and AI product design curriculum in 2025. I will be sharing sneak peaks of this curriculum in my Substack. I will also be sharing more personal, emotional posts about UX, a remote work lifestyle, travel, work-life balance, and more in my Substack, dedicated to women working in tech: https://substack.com/@uxwoman

Go for greatness! As always, dedicated to your success,

Samaya

P.S. If you would like to email me personally, please email me samayas@alumni.upenn.edu or samayasinha17@gmail.com. I would particularly love to hear from you if you have feedback and suggestions on how Ideate Labs could have served you better as a UX learner and UX job seeker. Some questions I have for you are:

What did you like or dislike about Ideate Labs?

What was your favorite memory of the Ideate Labs community/ least favorite memory?

In what ways can we do better to serve you as a UX learner and UX seeker in the future?

What are your biggest questions, concerns or fears around UX and the UX job market?