Designlab Reviews
Page 15
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Efrain Calderon
A great start to a career change
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I attended this course as an intro to the longer, UX Academy program also run by design lab. I was surprised at how much I gained from it and was especially happy with my mentor sessions. This gave me an easy to understand overview of design principles and helped me practice working with Figma. I’m now in UX Academy and notice things I picked up from foundations which has saved me time and felt familiar. I think it’s a good way to get an idea of what their curriculum is like. If you like foundations, you’ll like UX Academy too. -
Dana K
A great experience for beginners
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This course what a very pleasant surprise for me. I liked everything: the actual information received, the way it's organized in units, the fact that you can see your progress at all times, the mentor sessions.
There's only one thing I would change: some sort of awareness for those who are absolute beginners to learn to use at least one specific tool for wireframing, prior to starting the course. Because I had to take a lot of time to learn Figma somewhere in the middle of the course and it delayed the delivery of my projects. -
Adiqa Zahoor
Loved Design101!
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Design 101 has taught me so much in this past month. It’s such a valuable and well structured course. The mentor session helped me the most when it came to doing the projects. What I absolutely loved about the course was that you’re able to have hands on learning experience instead of going through a lot of readings. Overall, I love it and I’d highly recommend to anyone looking for a career in design. -
Rachel
Amazing Choice!
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Choosing Designlab was a tough one to make, but i'm so happy I went with it after lots of deliberation. All of the course information is available up-front (without having to talk to a robotic sales rep), pricing is available immediately and they are incredibly transparent about the whole process. From the time I signed up for Design 101, the materials, communication and interface were really user-friendly and happened quickly. Having a mentor was the cherry on top of the cake, and being able to communicate with other students in my cohort through slack. Also, the literature utilized to teach us was really up-to-date and easy to read and conceptualize. I walked away with amazing experience, a better understanding of Figma and basics of UX/UI. Highly recommend and I just got into UX Academy, so really happy to join another cohort with DLab! -
Yolanda O
Project-based and good structured course
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I really enjoyed the journey with Designlab. The 4-week course, Design 101, was perfect for me to dip my toes into design. I gained a basic knowledge of design principle, color theory, and typography and designed a landing page as a final project. It’s the most valuable for me to get feedback from my mentor and to chat with her once per week. The study platform also gave me chances to explore past student works and to interact with them.
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Nicole M
Design101, great intro course
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Coming into this course with no design background and very little knowledge of IX design, Designlab's 4-week course, Design101, was perfect for me and for anyone who wants to explore and learn more about the field, and gain basic knowledge of theories and concepts. The pricing is very affordable and your even get a mentor that you meet with once a week for the duration of the course. The readings and projects compliments and build upon each other, allowing students to put the readings into action. Reviewing and getting feedback on project from your mentor during one-on-one sessions was the most valuable for me from this course. -
Aliza
Ui Design
Was an excellent and comprehensive course. I feel i gained the skills I was looking to learn. -
Sara
UI Design
Had a fantastic experience with DesignLab. I have completed 2 short courses and hope to get into UX Academy -
Susanne
Great course for intermediate - expert level
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I loved the UI Design course from DesignLab. Having a lot of background in UX design and quite some experience in Digital design it was difficult to find a course that really has an intermediate to expert level curriculum.
The curriculum was a good mix between refreshing my memory on some things and teaching me new things while focussing on hands-on projects to bring the new knowledge into practice. Combined with having a mentor who is actively working in the field and therefore has a lot of practical experience, this was the perfect combination of learning & doing in order to further grow my skills. -
Esther A.
A Good Choice – Worth the $$
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After graduating from college, I made the decision to pursue a career in UX design and stumbled across Designlab. It almost seemed too good to be true for the cost, with its access to group crits, weekly 1:1 mentorship, a portfolio review, career services, and flexibility around my schedule. I took the introductory Design 101 class, and I was really impressed by the quality of the curriculum and mentorship, so I made the decision to commit to UX Academy.
Pros:- Group crits + mentor calls sharpened my communication skills and taught me how to give/receive feedback.
- My mentor was tough, but he really challenged me to think through each design decision, communicate clearly via agendas, deliverables, and presentations, and grew my confidence as a designer. This helped me a lot when I took on my first client project, which eventually led to my first full-time job. I can't speak for everyone, but from my experience (and from other students' experiences), there are a lot of high-quality mentors at DL. Understand what you want to gain out of mentorship, and find someone who is willing to help you grow in that way!
- The Slack channel has been invaluable for connecting with other students, exchanging resources, asking questions, and receiving help on your projects. I still keep in touch with some of the folks I've met and check the channels regularly for new resources.
- Designlab support is great. On two occasions when I needed to take a break from the program, they were accommodating and quick to respond.
Cons:- To be honest, some of the curriculum material could probably be found online for free. I think it's important to supplement Designlab curriculum with other resources, since they don't cover every research technique or tools out there.
- No opportunities to work on real client projects or group projects, unless you are able to plan something in your own time. This made it a bit difficult when applying for jobs, since most recruiters/hiring managers prefer real projects.
- Portfolio review could have been more thorough. After spending a lot of time on my portfolio, I received a one-line feedback on each section of the rubric, with some feedback using subjective terms. I didn't really understand the strengths of my portfolios, so I sought out more thorough feedback from other students.
Overall, I think enrolling in Designlab is one of the better decisions I've made. It requires a lot of work and commitment and it can feel daunting to transition into a new field, but as someone who came into this with no prior design background, I learned and grew so much over these past few months. The learning doesn't stop after graduation, but I'm glad that I came out with the skillset I was hoping to gain. Thank you Designlab for changing the trajectory of my life — happy to share that I now have a full-time job in project management and a part-time UX design internship in edtech. -
Biljana
Student
My experience with Design 101 course at Designlab was wonderful. I started with zero experience, and for only a month I learned a lot and was able to complete the course. All thanks to the feedback and guidance of my great mentor, and overall technical support of the Designlab team. I would defiantly recommend this course. -
gari
UI Design
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Danny has been a superb mentor. He is incredibly knowledgeable for 20 years and one of the easiest people to talk with. He has taken his time to give me feedback on my designs and provided a lot of suggestions to help me to be a great creative design. I feel awesome and satisfy. If I get the opportunity, I would love to take another course at Designlab and with Danny as my mentor! -
Connie
Excellent Design Course
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I came into this course with no background in digital design and I now look at it with a different perspective. The great part of Designlab courses is the amazing mentor sessions. In addition to the written responses on the course platform, you discuss your projects in the weekly mentor sessions. I was lucky to have Ajay as my mentor. He was patient and answered any confusion I have in each unit. There is also a Slack channel that students and staff can interact in. This community is very useful for an online design course. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience with Designlab. -
Valiantsin Balanovich
My best choice in terms of short courses so far
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in the 4 weeks with designlab, I learned enough to know I want to give up my work as a copywriter and have a career in this field, even though I am color blind. I had a lot of theory and practice and my mentor Sara gave me so much advice in such a short time that I can't believe how my skills and designer's taste improved. WoW. I mean, it's just four weeks, during which, of course, I was working hard on my homework but still, it's just four weeks. I am definitely applying for UX academy and hoping they accept me -
Whitney Bice
Great for those getting started!
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This was my first step to a career change! I plan to move forward into the UX Academy with Designlab.
This course was a great tool to get started in UX! You learn everything you need to know before jumping into a longer and more expensive course! The best part is your mentor who is beyond helpful throughout the entire course! You get plenty of time to work with them and they offer great notes and suggestions on your projects!
I would absolutely suggest this course to anyone getting started or even interested in UX! -
Laura Bugelli
Design 101 experience!
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Overall great experience with DesignLab on Design 101 course! I've decided that this would be the year of changing careers into UX Design (yes, 2020 out of all years!), but as a complete newly to the design world, I needed to gather some basic knowledge before moving forward with my studies. I've went through the lectures during the 4 weeks of the course quite effortlessly, they seem to follow a consistent rhythm, demanding effort from you with at least 4 deliverable projects per week, but not overloading you with work that makes you feel overwhelmed and unmotivated (of course that being stuck home quarantining all the time also helped).
The nicest aspect of it all, besides having a project to make you look forward to lessons and advancing on building your own results, I also really enjoyed the experience of having a mentor that would go through my improvement every week through video call sessions and help me analyze if I'm making the right decision on moving to Design, how the market and the work look like, tips of resources and references to help me kick things off... Besides, of course, evaluation of my work and making comments on what I'm nailing and what I could improve. I graded it as not 100% helpful on Job Assistance because, as it sets out to be, it is a Design course designed (aha!) to gather basic principles and not sure if you can really consider yourself a full-on designer after this 1 month of online course, but if you want to learn more about the job (either for fun or for longer-term planning), I definitely recommend the course and the school after my really pleasant and easy experience! -
Galyna
Great design course for those entering this field
Great design course for those new to the design! I really enjoyed working with my mentor, learned a ton of new staff! Highly recommend! -
Amy
Awesome intro to design
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I came into this course with absolutely zero design experience and finished feeling like I could call myself a designer. The course offers excellent content and mentorship and exceeded my expectations. A strong commitment and motivation are required, but there was so much to gain and to me it was worth the time and price. Highly recommend especially if you do not have much (or any) design experience and plan to get into UX! -
Andrew Luistro
I couldn't have picked a better place to start my UX Design journey.
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I came into this course knowing absolutely nothing about design, and I came out of it as prepared as I could have ever hoped to be. It really teaches you the basics of design from a completely blank slate, and does so in a manner that's easy to understand. The projects are wonderfully tiered so that they really build on each other and allow you to learn in a hands-on manner. The mentor calls were an invaluable resource for feedback. Having someone to bounce ideas off of or to answer general questions really allowed me to learn "how things are" in the real world that only serves to supplement the course. I could not recommend this place enough. -
Barbara Jewell
Design 101
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I would definitely recommend the Designlab's Design 101. Although I wasn't originally planning on taking it, it's a pre-requisite for enrolling on their UX Academy - and so worth it! Lots of good, useful information, the course material is interesting and easy to digest, the platform is visually appealing and intuitive, and my favorite - excellent mentoring.
On a side note, I wasn't a fan of their file upload limit (I had to find a file compressor online), and the estimated time for completing lessons and projects is way off - it took me almost double the time to complete, if not more.Overall it was a great experience to go from no design background to building a project of my own that I'm proud of!
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Matthew Pittman
Ui Design
I greatly enjoyed this course! The content was well organized and beneficial to my learning. My mentor was great. She provided timely feedback on my work which was great. I would recommend this course to anyone with a penchant for design.
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K.Nelson
UX Academy
I did a lot research before deep diving into a bootcamp. Glad I chose Designlab. What set this bootcamp apart for me aside the price was the helpfulness of having one on one mentorship meetings weekly to go over material and the career services portion after graduation has been better than my college career services when I received my bachelors. -
Mary Schwab
Great intro to Visual Design
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As a newbie to visual design, I really enjoyed Design 101 with one highlight being my DesignLab mentor as I found his feedback very helpful. He was very flexible in terms of our meeting times, and happy to reschedule when I had other work commitments pop up. He provided thoughtful feedback in my designs, but did not necessarily tell me exactly what decisions to make (which I appreciated). He was helpful in showing examples when I was stuck on certain decisions in the visual design process. I learned a lot in this course and felt challenged. Overall my experience throughout Design 101 was great!
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Michael
Great for getting down the core UX concepts
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Like anything in life, you get out of this course what you put into it. It's self-paced and there are no deadlines (which I didn't love), but there is a lot of good content and the most important thing for me was my mentor, who was awesome. She really helped guide me through the concepts, how to apply them, pitfalls to watch out for, etc.
I had always known about various UX concepts, but this course helped me focus on which ones were industry standards and gave me confidence to use terms and apply concepts in actual conversations with clients. Probably the best thing for me was that I was able to use concepts as soon as the second week on a client project and help drive their UX strategy.
In the end it was well worth the cost.
Pros: - great mentor
- good contentCons: - no deadlines
- "prototype" project is kind of lame
- I struggled to get through all the materials on time (mostly out of laziness) -
Christine Field
UX Research & Strategy
This course exceeded my expectations. While I finished the course in the time frame given, I could have dug down even deeper into the materials! And the plentiful resources are there for me to take advantage of for years to come. The mentor support is also key to discussing the projects and materials. The project-based course really helped to make the materials come alive.
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Thays
Amazing Course
Great course! The Design 101 course was an enjoyable experience where I could learn the basic of the Design making a good starting portfolio.
The modules are well developed with useful knowledge to build the final project peace by peace. It is also offered a mentor to guide you during this process and give tips about how to improve later on and how is the daily life as a Designer. -
Božo Prlenda
Very well structured projects and great mentorship
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Course UI Design at Design Lab was great experience. I would recommend it to everyone (beginners and professionals).
Course is divided in sections that consists reading material and small projects.
All those small projects are steps to create mobile or web app. Reading material is very good and you can find a lot of interesting additional links that can help you in your designs.
The best thing about the course is mentoring. You get 4 hours of video call mentoring and if your mentor is as good as mine was it will be a big bonus for your knowledge. -
Wendy Schorr
Good... Till you get to the portfolio review
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Great hands on, one on one mentoring, but terrible portfolio review process. I am a mid level professional who wanted a career change but didn't want to commit to another time consuming, expensive degree program. I needed to update my skill set and Designlab's UX Academy seemed like a perfect fit. Their one on one mentoring sold me along with the hands on projects and portfolio I'd have once I was done. Another selling point since I've been at the same comaony for 19 years was their career services. I need help and some guidance in that area. The problem is I can't get my portfolio through their review board. It's a terrible process that needs to be changed. You can't review a someone's work over email. That is how they give feedback: in an email. What they need to do is set up a video conference and review the portfolio in real time so the mentors can give constructive feedback. Most of the feedback I've gotten is not constructive at all, but more subjective. I can't act on subjective feedback because what one person likes another won't. So how do you ever get approved? Everything was great up until this point. Now, the one thing I placed all my hope in changing my career has let me down. I feel defeated, disappointed and no one at the school will help me. All I can do is warn you not to sign up for this program until they have changed the portfolio review process. -
Kira
Exceeded Expectations
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I could not recommend DesignLab more. For me, self-directed learning is essential but also challenging because I am a kinesthetic learner. A colleague recommended this course and a few others on the DesignLab platform as the starting points for me to use to make a career transition. I feel so lucky, I was given this recommendation. My mentor has been the most incredible resource. To learn from a working professional and have one on one tailored support is invaluable. I did not finish the course in the exact timeline prescribed because of my pre-existing workload and my mentor made arrangements to keep up with me through the finish line. I can not guarantee others would have this experience, but to have a mentor who intrinsically values teaching and watching another learn has been such a joy. I was afraid of online learning and I know I am coming back for another course, or two!
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Ian Lawson
Perfect Introduction to the World of Design
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After moving into a more design focused role I was looking introductory course to get my head into the world of design.
Design 101 by Designlab was a perfect choice - it gave me a comprehensive introduction into the professional space and allowed me to develop some strong foundations that I can build on going forward!
The course was well structured and well paced - helped by the great variety of content (lessons/quizzes/projects/etc) and interesting topics.
The mentoring system was extremely valuable too! Being able to get quality feedback and iterate on projects and designs was such a valuable and educational experience. It's also a perfect opportunity to make a great connection in the industry!
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Kay
You'd learn like never before.
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It is just a month in your life but it is a month that you will always remember,
if you have had zero experience in UX design like me.
It is a bootcamp with a mentor that has your back and keep putting your back on track.
You do so much research. You have so many design projects and have to do the stuff that you had never imagined you could ever do before.
From zero, you go up a steep hill and 1 month later when you post your projects online and share with your friends and ex-colleagues...They just wow.
This is how I describe the course.
I have enrolled in my 3rd course at DesignLab (Design 101, Interaction Design and Branding) and I intended to do 2 more courses plus UX Academy. So far, I have two mentors who are a Head of Product and an exceptionally intelligent and brilliant Design Educator. I cannot wait to know who will be my mentor in the next course. They all seem really cool and with sharp eye for design and give me good critique and pointers to the projects in my portfolio. Aside from that they also guide me towards making a career change to UX so I know what exactly I need to know in order to get internship opportunities and get hired.
On my resume posted online, I added links to my UX work around a week ago.
Today, someone with the title of HR or recruiter contact me for a role that need some knowledge of UX.
They like my shopping cart taxonomy and they look happy when seeing my wireframes and user flow.
I may not get a job as a UX Designer instantly --- it takes time to build your portfolio --- but I have a proof that I understand UX and I can do and have done it. They want to hire me for that.
This is a huge leap in my career.
People at DesignLab are extremely supportive. I missed the enrollment by a bit and they put me in the class. They listen to feedback and keep on improving. They do really care about having fast feedback and closing the loop.I enrolled in two places and I chose Designlab over the other.
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Rebecka Ferneklint
Awesome
I took the UI design course and have no complaints! I have taken two courses at Designlab and will probably take one more. Why? Because it is affordable, and you get an awesome mentor guiding you through the course. Holding your hand if you want. If you are serious about learning design there is no better way than to invest in yourself with Designlab.
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Brittany
I highly recommend Design Lab!
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I have taken 3 of the 5 short courses offered by Design Lab, and I have really enjoyed all of them. I have learned a great deal during the past 3 weeks! I think one of the most important things to keep in mind is that the choices offered by Design Lab are there to fit your lifestyle. I have taken the short classes, because I don't have the time nor the funds to take the more intensive UX Academy. That being said, I also went to school for fine art and took a bunch of design classes while in college. For someone who hasn't had this experience, UX Academy might be better for you. Because I work full time, the smaller courses work much better for my schedule. It takes the principles I've learned previously, gives good practice projects, and allows my mentor to give feedback.
I see some people feel like they don't get enough out of the short courses. But I don't think these classes are meant to produce stunning portfolio pieces. I think they give you a good foundation to expand upon so you can include your project in your portfolio. You just have to be willing to put in extra work. If you really want something, you'll do it. And if you want a portfolio piece, ask your mentor how they would turn the project into a portfolio piece. I was always completing work ahead of time, so my mentor gave me extra work for practice! You just need to ask; the resources are there.
Overall, I think these bite-sized classes are great. Yes, I'm busy all of the time, but to me it's worth it. I can't wait to start looking for jobs out there. Thanks, Design Lab!
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Xiaoming
DesignLab - Design 101
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Design 101 is a great course for anyone new to design. In this course I've learned all the necessary design basics and know a lot more about the design job field. Each student has a mentor that meets weekly, and it's a good opportunity to ask any questions, and the mentor's reviews of projects are very helpful. This course encourages me to seriously consider a career in UX/UI design, and encourages me to take more courses to improve.
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Linda Scott
Great course!
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I took this course in preparation for Designlab’s UX Academy. I had no formal visual or graphic design background or training. This course was an amazing and eye-opening introduction to design and teaches you all the fundamentals. It was both challenging and rewarding. The pace of the course is fast and you learn a tremendous amount of information in a short amount of time through readings and hands-on projects. The mentoring is also great so you don’t feel alone when you get stuck or you get to bounce ideas off a design professional. They keep you accountable for your work. I feel very prepared to begin Designlab’s UX Academy next month. I highly recommend this course!
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Kevin Santos
DesignLab is the right choice!
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I have been interested in getting into UI design so I opted to take the Design 101 course to get my feet wet. Let’s just say that was the best decision I made! DesignLabs course format is the ideal blend for online learning. The resources and articles combined with projects and mentorship really allows you to constantly learn and retain what you have learned. I’ve done video courses through Lynda and it doesn’t compare to the experience I had here. The mentorship helps you fast track your learning. My mentor understood I was new to design and helped me with anything I needed. Our weekly meetings were super insightful and she helped me with anything I need while also challenging me to think about certain things a designer would think about. One thing I appreciated was her approach, although I was new she still kept a high standard to my work which was good. Because I would hate to have a mentor tell me bad design was good just to make me feel like I’m learning. All feedback was critical to my learning. If you are looking to improve your skills or understand anything new I highly recommend DesignLab for any courses. Due to my experience with them I will be enrolling in the UX Academy as I had such a positive experience and I feel as if transitioning into UI design will be the right career choice for me.
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Kathryne
The push I needed
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I loved this course because of the balance of freedom and structure. I had the freedom to do the coursework when I had time during the week but still made sure to finish the projects before my next session with my mentor. It made me take my interest in learning design more seriously. Talking to someone who actually works in the industry was also a great help. She gave me so many great resources I might have taken a lot longer to find otherwise.
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RP
worth it for beginners!
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Design 101 was great especially if you're a beginner! Here are my pros and cons on this class: Pros: - They had great articles and games to keep the class interesting - Well organized and easy to navigate - The help I received when I had questions on the class was absolutely perfect! - Lots of projects to work on throughout the month Cons: - There were bugs here and there throughout the course. Images were broken, links didn't work, etc. I feel like they should have someone go through the course to make sure these links work! - My mentor was good but I felt like she didn't lead the discussion and give me good critique. It was like pulling teeth to get some good feedback. Also, I didn't feel like I got to know my mentor because we just jumped into talking about my work even from day one. - The articles they had through the course were all pulled from online. It would be nice to see some original written articles. -
Iva
Getting ready for the future
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February 2018 I participated in the UX Research course and It was an amazing experience. At my company we are working with Scrum for years, but I was always missing something. This course gave me the context in which human friendly products and product-features are "born". The course materials and the interaction with my mentor helped me structure the product design process and become more efficient at my job. Now I understand the importance of involving the users in the product development and what is even more important: now I know how and when to involve the users in this process.
For me it is clear that having a good user experience is not something that can eventually be added in the product, if there are enough resources for that. A good user experience starts with a research and it is essential for the products, which want to have a future. -
Will Hepworth
Great course, worth the money
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This course is such an eye-opener for those who have never pursued a formal education in design. The materials and exercises are engaging and interesting, and the mentorship is high-quality and very valuable. The combination of those two factors leads to a really enriching experience and I complete the course with a much better idea of what design is, and a grounding in the practical skills needed to be a designer.