Designlab Reviews
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Levi Barraclough
Foundations Student
I enjoyed the projects and really valued the time spent with my mentor as she helped me establish the basic skills I was hoping to develop. I appreciated that there was a part time pace for the course which was flexible with my full time work schedule. This course was much more than I thought it would be. -
Matthew McPhail
UX Academy Foundations
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For anyone looking to consider the UX/UI career fields but not quite sure what it entails, this course is a perfect match. It will introduce you to basic design principles, including typography, space, composition and color. From there, it’ll immerse you in the UX tool of your choice (I chose Figma), and challenge you with many different types of lessons, from layout recreations to teach the basics, ending with a 10-hour design challenge to bring together everything you’ve learned. -
Cassandra
UX Academy Foundations
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From someone who had no prior knowledge of Figma or UX/UI Design, I highly recommend this course! Before taking this course, I debated about going for a masters because of the lack of experience in this field. Now that I have successfully completed UX Academy Foundations, I feel more prepared and ready for UX Academy bootcamp! This course consists of eight units that are laid out for you so that you can succeed if you put the time in. There is a lot of information only for your benefit in becoming a successful UX Designer. They give you lessons and how to guide tutorials so that if you are a visual learner, you can follow the video for guidance going step by step. After completing the lessons and tutorials, you are given some copy work so that you can apply what you learned so far on either Figma or Sketch. Doing the copy work really allowed me to play around in Figma and become more confident in using the tools within it. It was such great practice and really prepared me for the final design project at the end of each unit. Doing the final design projects was one of my favorite parts since this is where you could be creative and feel as though you are on your own as a UX/UI Designer. Another wonderful thing about this course is the mentorship, especially for a newbie like myself. Having an excellent mentor throughout this course will make a huge impact on yourself. Your mentor is there to help guide you to success. They are the experts and know the tips and tricks to make this an exciting career. I feel very lucky to have had the mentor I did. She was extremely reliable, patient, and professional throughout the whole course. She was always responsive and on top of my work everyday which was extremely helpful since I wanted to make sure I was doing well the whole time. I only have good things to say about this course! If you put in the time and commitment to want to learn more and have excellent online learning skills then you will be happy with the outcome of this course! -
Mert
Fun and addicting
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I am marketing undergraduate and I wanted to have a design experience. This is a fairly new field so there are not that many information available on youtube that I found useful.I signed up for designlab foundations and I was amazed by how much I learned in just 4 weeks. The courses are very straightforward and designed very well for a person who has no clue about ux. My mentor was amazing. he helped me a lot for understanding figma, ui, design principals,ux careers and the future of design/technology. I applied for ux academy and I am very excited to be in ux academy to learn more. -
Allan Wu
UX Academy Foundations
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Designlab's UX Foundations is my first on many levels. This is my first bootcamp course. This is my first online course. This is my first exposure to the UX industry. Of course (pun intended) everybody's first experience is memorable, but not everybody's first experience is favorable. The overall Designlab experience is very favorable from beginning to now. I came away with a skillset in UX/UI that I feel confident in as I move forward. The knowledge I gained from the course and my mentor experience was well worth my time and resources. I'm very confident in recommending this course to anybody looking into a career in UX/UI. -
Erin
UX Academy Foundations
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I took this part-time Foundations course to prep me for Designlab's full-time UX Academy course, since I had very little design experience or education. I LOVED it. The emphasis was definitely on visual design basics and fundamentals, which I found very helpful for my situation. I don't have experience in any other bootcamp so it's hard to know what to compare it to, but I was constantly bragging to my partner about how well organized the course is, how much I loved the structure, how interesting the content was, how much fun I had with the projects and how much they made sense, flow-wise. I really was impressed throughout the process and I can't wait to get started in the full-time course! I did a TON of research on various bootcamps leading up to this decision (y'all should see my spreadsheet...) and once I started with Designlab, I didn't look back. -
Rachel
UX Academy Foundations
Everything you need in a bootcamp from lectures, projects, to student community, and mentorship. -
Brandon C.
A great starter course that helped connect the dot
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I've been looking into a career switch and have always been interested in web design/graphics/etc. After checking a bunch of articles and videos I learned more about UX design and saw a few recommendations for Designlab's UX Academy. Since I didn't have a portfolio to submit with my application I took this foundation's course. I managed to completed the full time track (~20hr week) while working a full time job. The pace was great and my weekly meetings with my mentor were a huge help filling in the blanks. The only con at first was I wish they went into more details outside the design process. But they explain the reasoning at the end why they structured the course this way - and it makes sense. My experience in this course was awesome and as soon as I got the final projected approved I immediately applied for the full UX Academy. -
Fabiola Jaime
Currrent Student
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When I applied to DesignLab, I was completely unaware of how much of a great fit it was for me. It is a very supportive environment, with an emphasis on providing hands on experience and providing a solid foundation to the design world. The faculty is very caring and understanding and has a genuine interest in students' success. There is a lot of potential to get involved in research, and a lot of students make use of those opportunities. You simply will not get an on-hand experience like you will at DesignLab anywhere else. -
Tazz Richards
Designlab Foundations - good for basic design and Figma
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I started Foundations knowing just a little bit of design, and had a pretty good handle on graphics programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. These helped in learning the core software for Foundations, and the UI/UX industry Figma. I would say that just learning Figma has helped my skill set for finding a career. Along with learning the software, I picked up a lot of good information on basic web and app design, color theory and typography. My mentor was very talented and had a critical eye.
So that's the good - here's the not as good. I don't think I could have survived without at least some design background. One student posted that they had no design background as was really struggling to learn all of Figma in the time allotted. And I agree. Learning how to work with vector drawing, font management, color management, basic layout, grids and columns, photo clean-up - it's a lot, especially if you're on the fast track 4 weeks course. If you don't have the background, expect to need twice as much time.
I think the course content is good, but there's some Figma lessons that should have taught first, like plug-ins for type and icons.
Overall, I'm coming out of this as a better designer, certainly not at a professional level. But, enough to move on the UX course, which was my goal.
As for the price - Foundations is $500, which is counted towards the cost of the UX course. If you only take Foundations, I'd say it's worth it for the mentor feedback, peer reviews, and extensive content. Note that job support is not included in this part of the course. That comes with the UX program. -
Sophie
Foundations + UX Academy review
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Because I didn't have any background in UX/UI design, I took the Foundations course before applying to UX Academy. I really enjoyed the Foundations course and I also had an great mentor who taught me a lot. UX Academy itself is intense but I've learned so much and have landed a UX Design job quickly after graduating. The hard work pays off! I did thorough research before choosing Designlab by comparing programs online but also by asking people in the field which programs they recommend. The main benefits of Designlab are: the 1-on-1 mentorship, the weekly design critique sessions, a lot of room to choose/create your own capstone projects to build a portfolio that stands out and 6 months of Career Services after graduating. The reason I'm not giving an overall 5-star rating is because the mentor pairing can be hit or miss (it's very personal!) and the process to change mentors wasn't always that smooth for me. -
Britt
Great experience; eager for more
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I started Designlab's UX Academy Foundations course in October. I attended part-time (10-15 hours a week) for 8 weeks. I did heavy research on programs; a Designlab mentor on the UX design subreddit ultimately tipped me over in favor of Designlab. I just completed the foundations course this week and wow, it was a very rewarding experience. I learned a lot in a short period of time and I walked away with many tangible skills, including using Figma and understanding UI design principles. My weekly meetings with my mentor was the true highlight - I got constructive feedback each week and an opportunity to ask questions to an expert. The Designlab projects are actually fun to work on and I looked forward to coming home from work each day and getting started on my classwork. My only regret was not having more time each week to dive in to the content more (e.g. read the recommended supplemental articles) - there's so much interesting stuff to learn. I am applying now for the Designlab full-time academy in hopes of changing my career to UX/UI design. I will be leaving a 12-year professional career in education, so making this transition is a big risk - yet I haven't doubted this decision once since starting with Designlab. -
Nidhi Jha
Ux Foundations
Im glad i picked design lab for learning ux designing. They gave the best content. The people who work for design lab are it's assets. They go out of the way to help students to accommodate their needs. Super approachable and very understanding. The content itself is well organized, easy to follow with videos and lots of project work for practice. -
Jessie
Great experience
I'm really glad I took this course. As advertised, it got me up to speed on basic UI/design knowledge so that I'm ready for the UX design bootcamp. DesignLab's customer service is extremely responsive via email, which I really appreciate. -
Sachini
UX Academy Foundations
I love the whole experience, the fact I did all of the projects online while juggling with my full time job and it was a great experience. I was able to develop and improve new skills and knowledge about UI/UX designing. -
Jordi
UX Academy Foundations
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I was debating between designlab and careerfoundry. I ended up choosing to enroll on designlab's foundations class because that would be a great way to see if their teaching style matched me before committing to a full payment.
The focus of the class is to get you up to speed with current UI design tools and design principles; with the idea of preparing you for when deeper lessons in the UX field are introduced in their Academy program.
I wasn't expecting to have such a dedicated staff, easy to digest content, and all the resources provided. Being paired with a mentor and having weekly check ups was a fantastic push to stay on track.
What impacted me the most is the scope of the projects, how much hands-on material there is, and the amount of content you can get to cover in so little time - without feeling overwhelming.
The results you'll get out of the class is definitely based on how much effort you put into it. After taking this class I feel very confident about diving into the next subjects such as UX, research, and the job search in the near future!
I would definitely recommend if you're considering a career switch but don't want to fully commit to a full boot camp!
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Irene
UX Student
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I think this is a good course for anyone considering stepping into the UX/UI field. For an online course, it will definitely be what you make of it but Designlab provides a good amount of resources to start off with. For anyone who hasn't worked with design software before, it's a great intro to Figma & Sketch and helps familiarize you with the basic functions. While the course offers recommended time spent on each project, you can really choose to move at your own pace which I found really helpful for someone balancing a full time job while enrolled. The best part though was that even though it's just a foundations course, you are paired up with a mentor! -
Stella
Great course someone looking to jumpstart their career in UX Design
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As someone who never did any digital design and 0 experience with design programs, the course was very daunting at first. But DL's program babies you into the world of design and UI elements. It's a great idea for someone who's interested in UX but not sure they want to pay for a full-on course just yet. The "reimbursement" to pay for the UX Academy is great too. The learning portal is clean and simple, easy to use and straightforward. Mentors all seem quite experienced, and you can even look through their work on the DL website and get linked to their resumes. The school's ambassadors are very active and there are multiple optional webinars throughout the course.
FYI mentor sessions are 1 hour in UX Foundations and Academy, and you're free to take them whatever direction you'd like, but since most people are doing this after their daytime job, you may have to schedule times before/after normal working hours (they take into consideration your time zone and whatever else you request on a survey before assigning you a mentor).
The only cons are that the learning material itself is a bit lackluster, somewhat dated (you can just tell from the screenshots of old iPhones), and you probably can find most of the material online somewhere else. But the projects and mentorship sessions are the main gems that you'll get.
One piece of advice to anyone coming from a non-design, non-UX background: try the Coursera UX courses for $40/month to feel it out first, and then if you're wanting to continue, give UX Foundations a try ($40/month vs. $500!) -
Kamilah K
UX Academy Foundations
Innovative, great place to start your UX journey if you're new! Everyone is incredibly helpful and will be more than happy to help if you need it. 1-1 mentorship is incredible and helps you improve on your work tremendously. -
Samantha Cunha
Graduate
Pros: work at your own pace, mentor assigned to help with learning and feedback, slack community to communicate with peers.
Cons: mentor wasn't great - didn't get along with my learning style - wish there was a more in-depth process of assigning mentors -
Laura Saladin
Challenging and Satisfying
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I had a really positive experience with Designlab's UX Foundations course. Going in, I was worried about a couple of things: it would be too difficult to learn new tools/ software remotely and I would have a tough time staying on track with my full-time work schedule. The way the course is laid out, the support offered by both the Designlab admissions team and my assigned mentor, and the slew of resources they provide throughout the course were so incredibly helpful. The actual course content and projects were engaging and challenging but never left me feeling clueless or unable to move forward. I learned a lot in the 8-weeks I took to complete the course. I finished the course with a design project I am proud of that I can use to apply for UX Academy, a solid base of foundational knowledge I'm excited to build on, and the confidence that I made the right decision to switch to a career in UX/UI. -
Casey R
Would. Recommend!
I had a great experience in the DesignLab Foundations course. The coursework was easy to follow, even for someone with zero experience in the industry. I enjoyed meeting with my mentor, the feedback from someone in the industry was incredibly helpful and appreciated. -
Kaitlin Ertel
Designlab - Outstanding
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I've been taking online classes through Designlab for about two months now. The curriculum is easy to follow, well designed, and motivating. You have constant support through Designlab's team, as well as a personalized mentor for you. The mentor commits at least an hour a week to meeting with you and talking about any questions you have about the course, UX design, or job opportunities - anything you want really! There's even a slack community where you can link up with other students (there are a ton!) and critique one another, so you get practice with aspects of collaborative design as well. I highly recommend the course for all of their support and ease of learning. -
Ninin Adique
Great Foundations Course!
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Really enjoyed my UX Foundations course from Designlab. It took me a bit of time to get used to the course delivery cause I didn't realize that even if the schedule is flexible and I can learn on my own time, there are still a lot of projects/deliverables to submit, so I ended up setting my own "class hours" so I'm not all over the place. The course itself is easy to understand and it has a lot of projects that will really give you a good grasp of what to expect in the UI industry. It's a Foundations course and I believe it lives up to that expectation-- it gives you the Foundations you need to build on. The mentorship aspect is okay, especially since you're doing all the coursework by yourself, so it's nice to be able to talk to someone once in a while. It's different though compared to having a teacher cause if you have questions while studying, you have to list it down and wait until your mentor session. Or sometimes, a concept is important but you end up just skimming it while you read, whereas having a teacher would have really emphasized/expounded on that area. For the content, I really like that Designlab make their own videos/tutorials so I don't have to go look for tutorials especially with using the software (Figma/Sketch). Overall, it's a good foundations program and the tuition commitment is also not too daunting. Like, if you find out that UI/UX is not for you, then you're not throwing away tens of thousands. It gives you allowance to not have to commit yet to the more extensive; more expensive UX Academy (which you take after this Foundations course). -
Steven Culbreth
UX Academy Foundations
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Very thorough, informative and challenging course. I've learned a lot and have come a long way and I really had a great experience. The staff and mentor's are great as well. Super supportive. Would definitely recommend this course. You definitely want to plan your time around this coarse though, working and doing it can be done, but depending on your ours it can be rough. I would still recommend you take it either way! -
David Dang
Pleasantly surprised at how much was covered in a foundations course
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I took Designlab's UX Academy Foundations course as a prep program for their full fledged UX Academy course. I was only expecting to learn some foundational basics to UX/UI design what I did not expect to receive from the program made the experience that much greater. Each student received weekly 1-on-1 mentor support, free access to the paid version of design tools as perks, online interviews with designers already in the industry with Q&A sessions, and plentiful of access to links outside of the program as external FYI (podcasts, books, blogs, videos, and others). What a joy it has been to be part of the Designlab curriculum. I would recommend this course for anyone interested in learning more about design without having to commit to the full fledged bootcamp. -
Myriah Christopherson
UX Academy Foundations
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UX Academy Foundations was an incredibly informative and helpful course. I'm a full-time Mom, I completed the course part-time and this course taught me so much. I have a bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration and currently, I'm working to get into UX Design. This course was the perfect learning experience for me. The overall structure of the course consisted of a few reading assignments, tutorials for either Sketch of Figma (I choose Figma), replication assignments (This was duplicating a current design that had good principles), and then a design project of your own. Each week had a specific focus, so whether it was grids and layout, hierarchy, typography, color theory, etc. each lesson built upon the last one. By the end of the course, I had produced my own designs that I was so proud of! There were also a ton of resources provided throughout the course to assist with finding stock photography, icons, and UI Pattern Libraries, and so much more. I loved also that I had a 1:1 weekly meeting with a mentor who was incredibly skilled and currently a working professional. She was awesome and taught me a lot! I'd highly recommend this course for anyone wanting to improve their Visual Design understanding and implementation, and anyone looking to move into UX Design. -
Celia
UX Academy (Part-time)
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Designlab is an excellent starting off point to launch a career in UX design! Starting with no experience in UX, I was amazed at how much knowledge I gained, including three detailed portfolio pieces. Throughout my time, the designlab staff has been very understanding, supportive, and accomodating. In addition, you get access to the slack channel even after graduation. It's a great location to find resources and connect with other designers.
On the downside, it's a self-taught course. It's necessary to have the motivation and dedication to get through the entirety of the course. However, the weekly group crit is a great way to meet other students and connect with excellent facilitators! The course does not go in-depth in some areas of UX. For this, I recommend supplementary courses like google UX. When it comes to mentors, they are a hit or miss. They are generally all great UX designers but not necessarily great mentors. I recommend reaching outside of designlab and connecting with other UX designers or UX mentors on platforms like adplist. Career service is what you make of it and will not guarantee you a job. So again, it's essential to connect with people outside of designlab for advice and networking.
Overall, designlab was a great starting off point. It will prepare you for your first UX design role, and I recommend the academy to anyone interested in starting a career in UX design. -
Kyra
Great course for anyone starting out in UI/UX design!
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I was a complete novice before starting this program, and have learned so much over the course of the 2-ish months that I took to complete it. It is a very comprehensive course for the amount that you pay, and it is a really nice feature that the amount is discounted should you continue on to Designlab’s UX academy course.
My mentor was very helpful and gave me a lot of great constructive feedback throughout the course. You have the opportunity to connect with and share your designs with other students in the course on Slack and in open critiques. It is an online course, so it provides the flexibility to complete assignments whenever you’d like, but the downside is that it’s not incredibly immersive if that is what you are looking for.
My favorite thing about the DesignLab course is that it allowed me to express myself in a way that I felt like I could not for the longest time! It was so refreshing to learn about a new tool/skill (the iterative design process and using Figma) and then getting a chance to tackle projects that simulate what you might find as a real world designer.
I highly recommend Designlab!! -
Makayla Orlandi
UX foundations
I had such an amazing experience in UX foundations at Designlab. Not only was I paired with an awesome mentor who helped develop my design skills from scratch, but also the projects and curriculum were well crafted. Overall, I learned a lot and I am excited to start UX academy at the end of this month. -
Alexia Ashton
UX Academy Foundations
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I really enjoyed the UX Foundations course with Designlab. It was a great way to test drive the Designlab experience and get a good basis for UI design. I had zero experience in design so I felt this was a really beneficial course to get me on an even playing field with my future peers. My mentor was awesome. She really taught me to how to look at a design and pay attention to the fine details to create more quality work. You have 8 weeks to do the course, but what I really loved was that I could do it at my own pace. If I had more free time, I could advance onward. The tuition for this course can be used towards the UX Academy upon acceptance if you wish to continue. -
Cole Jackman
Unbelievably impressed
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Before taking this course through Designlab, I made sure to research dozens of UX/UI online courses to make sure I was choosing wisely. I was most impressed with their extremely thorough curriculum , peer reviews, and mentorship throughout the course with a skilled professional from the UX industry. I seriously couldn't find those perks for the price in which I paid anywhere else. I genuinely became more skilled in such a short amount of time. I am extremely grateful that I chose Designlab as my education of choice. -
elinn
Design 101
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discrimination
I'm actually quite upset with how I've been treated throughout this program.
I had some troubles with the mentor no-showing (3 times between my 2 mentors) and some punctuality issues. And on top of that, the fact that I was pressed into doing all my deliverables within a 2 week timeframe since the mentor didn’t have time in August to accommodate a 1 call/week schedule. Which I think, was unfair for Designlab to arrange me with a mentor that couldn’t provide enough time to properly teach a student, especially when I worked through the first 2 weeks of the course without feedback on my deliverables from my first mentor, and no calls (since he no-showed).
The main argument I’m trying to make however, is the difference in treatment that I’ve receivedafter making these issues known to Designlab. A friend of mine, who I recommended into Design101 with me, also experienced 2 no-shows from her mentors, to which Designlab promptly changed out her mentor, apologized, and offered a number of things to better her experience – information on UI design challenges, links to scholarship applications, $200 discount from enrolling in UX Academy, among others. Meanwhile, I was basically told that if I didn’t want to continue in UX Academy, a program I was really looking forward to, I could just choose to leave.
I simply want to understand why students with similarly bad experiences are treated differently. Is it because I didn’t leave more negative feedback every chance I got? Because after all of this, even though I was looking forward to the Academy, it isn’t worth putting up with such disparity in treatment if I’m constantly given the short straw.
Also, another friend of mine finished the course on time, she couldn't get into the UX Academy, and if she wanted to get in, she had to take another course while her friend got a mail saying that if she wants to attend UX Academy, she has to take another course, and if she does, she will get a discount. -
Ann
Great course to take to get a good feel of UX design!
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Pros:
-readings are quick and informative, introducing the material while providing resources for (optional) further readings
-assignments allowed me to apply what I have learned from the guides and readings
-weekly 1-on-1 mentor sessions really helped me figure out the areas I needed help (in comparison to most Udemy courses)
-lifetime access to the Slack community!
Cons:
-not much of a con, but Foundations' material covers a more "general" aspect of design rather than specifically UX, so certain assignments may feel more like web design / visual design thing rather than UX
-unable to pause or ask for a short extension for your cohort (in case something changes in your or your mentor's schedule that could potentially make it difficult for you to finish the course in 4-8 weeks) -
Amy
An amazing experience
https://www.coursereport.com/write-a-review -
Sofiia
Great experience!
I highly recommend the course! Incredible mentors that help you grow and very helpful, welcoming community that got your back. -
Peter An
A great intro experience into design
It was a great intro course to design. It focused heavily on UI rather than UX so it is perfect for those coming with no design experience. It covers a wide range of foundational UI topics that will help you when join for UX academy. -
Evelyn Boeke
0 to 100 Real Quick
UX Academy Foundations brought me from design instincts but no formal training or technical skill to building high fidelity mock-ups in 8 weeks. I’m impressed with them and myself. -
Aimee Van Wychen
Designlab Foundations
The Foundations course through DesignLab was the perfect introduction to UX/UI design. It teaches you the fundamentals and all the basics you need to know to help you grow your UX knowledge. Plus, you get one on one mentor sessions which is unbeatable. 10/10 would recommend -
Lilly
Thanks for everything and more, Designlab!
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I honestly cannot recommend Designlab enough! Under the wings of my mentor and group critique facilitator, as well as my career services mentor and their career coach, I successfully transitioned from marketing to UX. I learned so much from all of them while gaining a sense of confidence in my design ability. Thanks to the guidance provided by my mentor Alan Hurt Jr. I learned fundamentals of UX, how to properly articulate my design decisions, and overall was prepared for an entry-level position in the field.
What I didn't anticipate to gain from the program, however, was lifelong friends with members of my cohort and a network of supportive alumni. Every person I've met through Designlab are super kind and willing to help one another out. As a fully online bootcamp, this ended up being invaluable to my overall experience and ended up being the reason I landed my first UX role.
Overall, I highly recommend this bootcamp... Even though I admittedly already have multiple times...! It's great for people who have the strong desire to switch careers but also would like the support of others along the way.