Designlab Reviews
Page 13
-
Rosemarie Huynh
Design Beginner-friendly Program and Supportive Environment
Read more Read less of Rosemarie Huynh's review
DesignLab has a good starter system for people who wants to change their career into UX/UI. I am a student who decided to change my career after I have graduated with a BA in Consumer Science. I wanted to share my experience with anyone who might in the same situation. During my search for a UX bootcamp, I found DesignLab to be the most beneficial in terms of projects and hands-on work. I thought it would be a good idea since I wanted solid projects on my portfolio in the end. I have only taken the Foundation course and it has been a great experience. I am in the process of applying for their UX Academy program.
I have had a few issues regarding the system and my mentor, but DesignLab's team has always been super helpful and accommodating. The Foundation course is absolutely beginner-friendly, I would recommend this to anyone who is new to design and wanted to get more practice with tools like Figma or Sketch. The curriculum is easy to digest and understand while having the best results in projects. Meeting with mentors might be awkward, but I think they are super helpful in getting the student where they want to be.
I guess the only cons that I could think of is the number of sessions you get with your mentor. Students are only provided 8 sessions and the first one is an introduction meeting to know more about your mentor. I do understand that the mentors have their own schedule, but limiting the sessions to 8 might be too little. I was able to fit everything I wanted into the 8 sessions, but I wished I had more.
Overall, I do believe the pros definitely outweigh the cons. To rephrase, DesignLab Foundation course is a great program for people who are new to design with no experience. The course is very informative and I think it's a great start for anyone who wants to get into the UX/UI industry.
-
Lindsey Bogott
Foundations Review
Foundations was a great introduction to ux/ui and visual design. Through the projects, articles, and videos you learn valuable skills and understanding of the visual process. The course is not intense, you can easily do it as you work or go to school as you only need to spend 4 hours a day on it if you space out the units across the duration of the course. -
Erika
Really helpful.
I began Designlab Foundations with no prior knowledge of design or anything having to do with it. Now that this portion is complete, I feel better and more confident about moving forward and taking the next steps to become a designer. -
Jeroen de Groot
Practical and insightful
Read more Read less of Jeroen de Groot's review
I did quite some online courses related to UX but at Designlab I had the opportunity to actually work on assignments and iterate on them based on feedback provided by a mentor. The course is logically build up in 8 units and every unit starts with theory, a copy exercise where you do a deep dive in tool functionality but also learn how landing pages and apps are structured. After a reflection you move into a design exercise where you have more creative freedom. On average every week you have a chance to talk with your mentor for an hour, you can chat about your designs, ask questions and you receive extra tips and tricks. You are encouraged to time-box your iterations to get used to an agile way of working and build confidence sharing intermediate products. The emphasis is on UI but this helps you jumpstarting the UX Academy (you loose less time on learning a tool, UI definitions and UI design). -
Polina Popravka
UX ACADEMY FOUNDATIONS
I didn't even remotely expect this level of everything: starting from the mentor assigned to me who was the best possible match and guided me throughout the way with helpful tips and pieces of advice, to insane volumes of valuable information put together in nice chunks so that its easier to digest. Many thanks to everyone who participated in organizing this course for us!!! -
Sebastian
Great experience and good value for money
Read more Read less of Sebastian's review
I wanted to improve my UI design skills and learn the basics. The course is nicely structured into logical blocks and all information is easy to read with additional resources provided if needed. I loved mentor sessions and also the creative projects. There were also many "reproduce a page" projects - I wasn't a big fan of them, but they made sense to understand the components etc. before you will build your own pages. I would recommend this course for everyone who wants to get the basics of (mostly UI) design and get better with the tools. -
Bo
Best experience for a design novice!
Read more Read less of Bo's review
I've enjoyed taking Designlab's UX Academy Foundations course. It's a great introduction to visual design for those who are thinking about career switching and want to dip their toe in the water before making a big splash with their bootcamp. There are many great things about this course, but I really appreciated the mentorship aspect as well as the curriculum. The online learning platform is easy to navigate and they make the modules (lessons, tutorials, etc.) informative yet fun at the same time. -
Mariam Alshargawi
AWSOME course!
Read more Read less of Mariam Alshargawi's review
I enrolled in this course so I can learn how to start and handover a whole design from start to finish and with this course I got exactly what I wanted and more. If you are looking for a fun course and want to learn UI design by doing; definitely give this course a try!
You will be able to work with great mentors from all around the world with experience from top companies, learn and have access to an amazing rich content and get hands on experience by working on multiple projects. -
Kristy Cline
UX Academy Foundations
The Foundations course was a great starter for learning more about UX/IU design and getting your feet wet in the industry. With their support and curriculum, I now feel confident and excited about diving into the field. -
Kaylee
Not Worth It – UX Research & Strategy
Read more Read less of Kaylee's review
This course was, sadly, not worth the time and money. The way the class teaches concepts is too disconnected and in-depth for any real-world application. It's very confusing. Every assignment felt like busy work – we would spend hours on a microscopic part of the research process only to zoom out and learn that it wasn't actually feasible or important to do in actual product creation. Basically, this course was all academic, and not enough hands-on real-life work was taught. Next to nothing I learned here will be useful at my job and there definitely won't be anything going in my portfolio from this calss.
Additionally, every mentor has their own rubric. There's no standardization on what is expected on assignments, it's luck of the draw on who you get. I looked at some other student examples, and surprise – they were all over the place. Several students obviously did the bare minimum and didn't even answer the prompts, but they got approved without any critiques. It made it incredibly difficult for me to know what was expected, and I have come away from the course ignorant of what I'm doing right or wrong.
Overall, I wish I hadn't spent the money. I would have gotten more out of teaching myself with youtube videos and creating my own projects. -
Ash Xie
new foundation online course
Very organized, logically designed foundation online course for beginners.
I enjoyed my studying. -
Jack
Design Lab UXA got me a new Career
Read more Read less of Jack's review
After years of Umm-ing and Ahhh-ing, I finally decided to make the jump from engineering to UX design. My aim was to completely change careers.
I looked at so many different Bootcamp styled courses, Career Foundry, General Assembly, Thinkful, DesignLab, Flatirons, etc., and decided on DL because to me there was no other course out there that was offering what DL was for the same value. I'm so glad I chose DL.
The UXA course was awesome, so in-depth and the first phase really prepares you for the second phase and building capstones and your portfolio. (also, a course that delivers you to the job market with 4 full capstone projects is something not many other courses can offer). I had a great experience with my mentor and support system. and never lacked support. The inclusion of group crit sessions was also a great help during the course but also during the job search phase, having that experience of collaboration with fellow designers is huge!
I took the course part-time and completed it on time. Some students do struggle but this doesn't become an issue unless you're solely interested in the job guarantee. Which while is nice to have, is not the sole purpose for me doing the course, and is kind of hard to stick to anyway - also for me it was a sign that designlab is going to get you a job! They also have pauses which you can take if you get behind.
I completed my course and portfolio review in March but started my job hunt 3 months prior. I landed my first UX job in March and I am 100% convinced I couldn't have done it without DesignLab. I think the average hire time is something like 3-4 months, so if you're not in a rush this is even less than an issue.
The mentors you have access to were incredible too. My mentor for the course phase was amazing. Supportive and instructive, with over a decade of experience. My careers service mentor was great too, even though we only had one session, the knowledge experience and contacts they can bring and give you aren't measurable, and you'll be hard-pressed to find them anywhere else.
I can't recommend DL enough. If you're think of a career in UX - Choose DesignLab. -
Lisa Luu
Designlab Foundation program
Read more Read less of Lisa Luu's review
Overall experience is pretty good. Designlab's curriculum for the foundation program is efficient and thorough. It is a good introduction program to UX design for those who want to learn what's UX design is like and learn more about using figma and sketch to design. They also have a pretty cool platform to show your progress and you get to see other students' work for inspirations. They follow up with you to see how things are going and if you're not on track. I would recommend this program to a friend and family. -
Irene Chai
Course Materials is well-structured
Read more Read less of Irene Chai's review
I was enrolled in the newly launched UXA foundation course. The curriculum is very much structured and well-organized. We have 8 mentor sessions for the whole course which means there are 1-2 meetings every week depending on whether to complete within 4 or 8 weeks. I like the course materials a lot. Designlab really spent lots of efforts on researching and putting everything together. For the mentorship part, I feel that the mentor mainly focused on getting you through the program and move on to the UXA course instead of really teaching you the industry knowledge. Each time I asked about the UX related questions or real-world projects, I was given the answers like "you will learn it later in UXA course", "this course is only for UI study" or "it depends..." etc. I definitely learned new perspectives from the course materials but not much from the mentor. I'm not sure if it is just my case tho. So I would give 4/5 for the entire course. -
Markie I
Great intro to the world of UX/UI!
Read more Read less of Markie I's review
This course is mandatory to take if you are a beginner and plan on taking their UX Academy program. You are also introduced to a mentor that gives you feedback on your coursework and any questions you might have about the industry. I believe this alone is worth the price of the course. I've gained so much knowledge and improved my eye for design in the last 8 weeks and I'm hungry to learn even more!
If there was one suggestion I can make, it would be to include videos to the curriculum. While a lot of it is visual, there can be a bit of reading at times. Nonetheless, the material is informative and helps you complete your projects.
If you're on the fence, I would definitely give this course a try! The community is very supportive throughout and you have lifetime access to the course after you finish it. -
Nicole Ha
Great course for UI Essentials!
Read more Read less of Nicole Ha's review
I just finished the UX Foundations and I have to say that this course has exceeded my expectations. I have NO background in design and this is an online course but even with these two obstacles I felt that I learned so much. Each chapter has a combination of readings and video tutorials, all arranged in an organized manner. The 1:1 calls with my mentor every week, I could ask questions that were specific to my situation or problems. It kept me on track and every mentorship call I left with pushing myself to do better. For those who are still on the bench about going through Foundations or not, I recommend to take it. It's a perfect course in terms of time, money and to see if UI/UX design is really for you. I had an excellent experience and I am proud to continuing my journey as a designer in UX Academy. -
Tanya Neplioueva
Great course with one-on-one feedback
Read more Read less of Tanya Neplioueva's review
Designlab gave me a great overview of UX/UI design principles and emphasized the importance of iteration and accessibility. One-on-one meetings with my mentor were especially helpful and gave me weekly direction and feedback on my projects. I got a great introduction to Figma and feel comfortable using it after 6 weeks of work. The self-paced approach allowed me to study around my part time job hours and home responsibilities. I'd highly recommend this course. -
Paula
Designlab Foundation Course recommended
Read more Read less of Paula's review
I'm transitioning careers so I was looking for a course that could introduce me to UI/UX. I found good reviews online about Designlab so I decided to start with the Foundations Course. I've now finished it and I'm very satisfied. The course content is well structured, with updated information and many challenges that definitely help to sharpen design skills. I'm particularly pleased with the 1:1 mentor support they offer, I had such a good experience with my mentor. I also enjoyed their how-to guides where they show how to use tools like Figma or Sketch. I'll recommend this course to anyone who wants to start their UI/UX journey. -
Tiffany
Great course structure and support
Read more Read less of Tiffany's review
I really enjoyed Foundations more than I expected to. I was pleasantly surprised with how well structured the course was, and the unit projects were both challenging and engaging. Since I'm a naturally anxious person, I went into each unit assignment with a lot of uncertainty for how I'd perform. However, having mentor support really helped guide me in the right direction. I'm glad I took Foundations, since now I know that I want to enroll in UX Academy and officially start my career change into UX Design. -
Hilla Rosenberg
DesignLab Foundations
This course has given me the foundations of the UI/UX world. There is so much more to learn and I am excited to get started with UX Academy. -
Marisa Garcia
Great precursor before enrolling in Designlab's UX Academy
Read more Read less of Marisa Garcia's review
I just completed Designlab's UX Academy Foundations and had a very positive experience. The first few projects were easy to complete, good practice in using Sketch and Figma. Then they increase in difficulty as you move through the units. The one-on-one mentorship experience was totally above and beyond my expectations. The mentor I was paired with provided generous notes and comments as to how to improve my designs, took the time to send me additional resources and was super encouraging. What is also great, the $500 that's paid will be applied to the long-term UX academy program and the final project is submitted as part of the application process. Highly recommend this experience! It really made me feel more confident about entering the longer Designlab UX/UI design program. -
Vidhya
UX Academy Foundations
I just finished 8 weeks of UX Academy foundation at designlab. I really like how the course has been designed. This course explains everything about UI and is easy to understand for everyone. The course assignments are fun to work with and user friendly exercises. -
Jonathan Alfonso
Awesome intro into UX/UI
Read more Read less of Jonathan Alfonso's review
Prior to signing up for Foundations, I did extensive research on the plenty of UX/UI courses out there. I found that Designlab checked all the boxes for me. As a beginner, I feel that the curriculum was just difficult enough to get you thinking in the right mindset without making things too frustrating to learn. On top of that, the Designlab community was super helpful throughout. From the admin, slack community, and my mentor I was never short of resources if anything got tough. Everyone is super supportive and encouraging which makes you want to learn more and do your best. Highly recommend this course if your thinking about getting into UX/UI. -
Victoria
Worth it.
This program got me back into design after ten years out of the habit. It's a well-organized program, a ton of hands-on experience, and they really try to hire mentors that are helpful and knowledgeable. I loved my mentor! This foundations course was well worth the money. -
Priscilla Siu
Coming from having no background in design, UXA Foundations taught me a lot about visual and UI design!
Read more Read less of Priscilla Siu's review
I really enjoyed my experience throughout Designlab's UXA Foundations course. Even though this was a short course, I was able to learn a lot about visual and UI design. The projects provided were fun to do and very hands on. My mentor was really helpful and I definitely learned a lot from him. I would recommend this course if you have no background in design and want to learn more about visual and UI design. -
Letha Myles
UX Academy Foundations
Read more Read less of Letha Myles's review
I chose the UX Academy Foundations course because even though I had an interest in UX/UI design, I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to make a full financial and time commitment. I also came to the program with no prior experience so I didn't want to make a full decision without knowing if this was something I could do. This 8 week course was perfect in helping me with my decision. I liked that it was self paced so it worked with my schedule. I also loved my mentor who I met with weekly, not only did they answer all of my questions but they also provided me with further resources. -
Jason
Valuable Experience
Read more Read less of Jason's review
I came into the course with familiarity in UX & UI knowledge but it wasn't credible. Going into this, I learned the heuristics and information properly with more experience. Make sure you're willing to put in the time and communicate with your mentor concisely what you want to focus. Overall a good course to take for those wanting to explore this field without sinking 8 grand for other courses. -
Grace Tam
Great intro to UI
Helpful course with a lot of flexibility to complete with working a FT job. Mentor was really helpful and knowledgable. Focused on UI/visual design but a great intro for the full Academy. -
Jared
Yes!
Great course. Solid content. Super user friendly. I learned a ton and can't wait to continue on my path in the academy. The mentor program is key. Mine was amazing and always had super professional feedback. Thanks DL! -
Victoria Cheng
Student
Read more Read less of Victoria Cheng's review
DesignLab's Foundation course was well structured and organized. It was thoroughly thought out and designed for all students including those without any design background. Each module built on what you learned leading to your final project. I loved the slack community and being able to connect with students who are taking the same course. This was such a great resource at the tips of my fingers for support and feedback. -
Whitney Baker
UX Academy Foundations
Overall my experience was positive and thorough. I learned a ton and enjoyed myself along the way. My mentor helped me with each session, coaching me through program issues with Figma, project effectiveness and career coaching. I was given all the insight I needed, and had fun completing the projects along the way. -
Chris Soares
Amazing Experience
Read more Read less of Chris Soares's review
I can’t speak highly enough about Designlab. From the curriculum, easy to use platform and most importantly mentorship, I highly recommend Foundations to others. I originally took a different into to design course through a separate company, and was then accepted to the career track once I finished. I am so happy I decided to pivot and try Designlab. Best decision I could have made. I got so much more from this course. -
Amy Owens
A fantastic UX foundations experience
I had a wonderful experience through design lab as an introductory to UX/UI. The mentors, and staff were all so helpful and cheerful. I feel confident in my decision to move on the the bootcamp next -
Stephanie Tsang
UX Academy Review
Read more Read less of Stephanie Tsang's review
Group crits and mentorship are the winning traits of UX Academy. The curriculum is well structured and they’re continuously updating information based on student feedback. You could find this information through online resources or books, but it’s nice to have assignments where you can apply that knowledge and have a professional (your mentor) guide you through any confusion or misunderstandings.
The group crits are such a home run on DesignLab’s part. You get a chance to learn how to present your work, justify your design decisions and thinking, and give/accept critique. They’re very informal and quite welcoming- the moderator is there to promote conversation but I found that it happens organically most of the time.
Loved my time at UXA and highly recommend it! -
Joselyne
UX Academy Foundations
I just graduated from UX Academy Foundations and I learned a lot. There's a lot of information that will help you in your growth to becoming a designer. DesignLab gives you the structure and guidance needed to help you start of you UX design lab career. The mentor calls were also very helpful. Overall, I think it's a good program if you want to learn about UX Design. -
Marissa Rodriguez
I highly recommend Designlab's UX Academy Foundations
Read more Read less of Marissa Rodriguez's review
I have taken a few online courses in UI/ UX design, but nothing compares to Designlab's UX Academy Foundations. I learned a lot in just a matter of weeks! My mentor lived in the same state I do and was always willing to provide me with feedback/ advice. The course was challenging, but 100% worth it. I became more comfortable in my work and learned how to efficiently use Figma. I just wrapped up this course so I haven't applied to the UX Academy just yet, but I plan on it! -
Dhivyaa
Good value for money
Read more Read less of Dhivyaa's review
The UX Academy foundations is an 8-week pre-requisite to apply for UX academy for students with no prior design knowledge. This course is packed with information, easy to use guidelines, and numerous projects to learn and apply UI design. I learned so much from the online course and through mentor sessions. I highly recommend for anyone who wants to change career or just learn about UI design -
Aizat Izyani
Best course I’ve ever done
Read more Read less of Aizat Izyani's review
The best thing about DesignLab is that the course is well-organised - the units enabled me to take more and steps to building a good foundation for knowledge and stretched my skills further and further with every exercise. Each unit is calibrated perfectly so that it’s not too difficult that you’d give up, but challenging enough to keep stretching your skills. The mentorship is excellent - my mentor provided help by suggesting readings and resources, shared tips and real life design problems from his own experience, guided me through some design related work processes I was working on for my job, and provided emotional support so that I could felt like someone was really rooting for me! The course interface is also great - very straightforward, brings the course materials, mentor sessions, AND a huge gallery of past and current students work for endless inspiration! I’d love to do more courses after a short break - next course I’ve ever done and I’ve done a lot! -
Ashley Brown
Overall a great course for learning the fundamentals UI and visual design
Read more Read less of Ashley Brown's review
Overall I'm very happy with my experience taking UX Academy Foundations through DesignLab. I initially registered for their Design 101 course but as they were transitioning to Foundations they allowed me to transfer my registration to the new course instead. I found the DesignLab staff to be friendly, accommodating and willing to answer any questions I had quickly. The course is over 8 weeks and intended to be a preparatory course to apply to their UX Academy but it has a lot of merits on its own. It's broken into 8 different sections, each focused on different aspects of UI and visual design from visual design basics, to UI elements and principles, to color and type and so on. There are various readings and projects for each session and the projects vary from copy work, written reflections and hands on design projects with briefs. The final project is a 10 hour design challenge to design a website and three mobile screens for a fictional travel site. The curriculum covers web design, responsive design and mobile app design. An important note that this course mainly covers UI and visual design and there is not a ton of information on UX design except for an optional section at the completion of the course. This is understandable as the UX design portion is covered in their UX Academy course. The majority of the work is self-paced and there are not set times for taking the coursework which is nice and allows for a flexible schedule. In addition, it seems as if you have lifetime access to the coursework, even after you submit your final project. They pair you with a mentor who is working in the field and you have weekly hour sessions with your mentor to ask any questions and review design projects. Your mentor can also comment on your design work through their online portal outside of your scheduled sessions. You're also given access to a Slack channel so you can talk with other students also in the program. I enjoyed working with my mentor, who was able to give me specific, actionable feedback on my projects as well as the reasoning behind her suggestions and was readily available via Skype and email outside of our sessions. Ultimately, I feel as if I learned a lot about UI, visual and web design and feel like I've established a great baseline of knowledge to add to my resume and to offer to future employers. However, it is is a significant investment of time. They estimate 10 - 15 hours per week, which I would say is mostly accurate, though some weeks I'd say I was doing closer to 20 - 25 hours a week on iterations and revisions of the design projects. As someone who does not have children or a particularly demanding job this was doable for me, but if you work a lot of hours or have children, it may be harder for you to complete everything required within the time frame. For the majority of the course I worked both nights and weekends to complete what I needed to on time. In addition, it is self-paced, so you get out of it what you put into it. If you're not willing to put in the time to do the readings, prepare and participate in your mentor sessions and do the design work and iterations/revisions, you may not find this course as satisfying as I did. -
Maria Vavrova
Great intro into the world of UX
Read more Read less of Maria Vavrova's review
I really enjoyed the UX Academy Foundations course! I did it part-time alongside my job, and it was manageable - not overwhelming and not dull either. The projects were fun and interesting, and for me, the possibility to have 8 mentor sessions added great value to the course. I think the course provides an excellent insight into the UX/UI world, and it serves as a good starting point for people who want to continue to the UX Academy.