Designlab Reviews
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Peter Andresen Verified via LinkedIn
UX Academy
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DesignLab was a great program for what I was looking for--I wanted to learn new skills to change my career from Sales into a more creative, design field. I felt that it prepared me well for a career in UX. One of the reasons I chose DL over other courses was because you end up with 4 total case studies on your portfolio which was a huge plus. I feel that the curriculum covered about everything needed to be a successful UX Designer.
Keep in mind that it's very much a self-led curriculum with regular check-ins with your mentor. I had great mentors, but I'd say that's one of the downsides to the program--no professors, lectures, etc. Also, keep in mind that UX is a super competitive field. I spent nearly 3 months looking for a job after graduation and applied to over 200 jobs. Eventually, I ended up taking a job at a start-up that isn't a full-time UX Designer position, but it's a stepping stone into the right direction to hopefully land a full-time position in the future. I knew it wasn't going to be easy going into the program, which ended up being very true. I had doubts along the way, but ultimately I feel I made the right choice and I'm closer to a career I am passionate about than ever before. -
Kevin Hackett Verified via LinkedIn
UX Academy
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Designlab’s UX Academy was an overall positive experience. Since finishing the program, I’ve recommended the course to several people who found themselves in the position I was in prior to beginning the course- stuck in a job they hate, barely keeping above water financially, and looking for a new direction. The course prepares you for a career- as long as you are willing to put in the work. It is more rigorous than I anticipated, but Designlab is very supportive and willing to help as needed -
Cat Tran Verified via LinkedIn
UX Designer
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I had a great experience with Designlab. I already had some experience in UX going into this course but came into it wanting to hone my visual design skills and dedicate time to putting together a portfolio. Designlab's biggest strength is its network of mentors; I loved all 3 mentors (Phase 1, Phase 2, Career Services) I worked with throughout the course, and they really opened my eyes to the various shapes a UX career can take. Group critiques also help you to network with new people, hear from a variety of perspectives, and learn about the most relevant industry standards/resources in real time.
The one drawback of a remote, asynchronous course is the fact that it can sometimes feel isolating. I would highly recommend this program to self-starters who feel comfortable structuring their own time and motivating themselves. I can tell that DL is working on creating more avenues for connection with your peers, and I really appreciate how much they iterate on feedback to improve the student experience.
I find it hard to believe there is a better value UX program out there. Quitting my job and jumping in full-time was definitely a financial risk, but in just a few months, I've already been able to pay back the money I spent on the program and raised my baseline pay significantly. Designlab is one of the wisest investments I've made in myself. If you put in the work, you will see results! -
Dan Verified via LinkedIn
Amazing Experience—If You Understand What It Is and What It Isn't
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Designlab was a fantastic experience as I pivoted into UX and product design. The content itself was good-not-great (most of it you can learn on your own) BUT I had absolutely amazing mentors, that both inspired and pushed me to grow to where I am now.
In my experience, Designlab was absolutely worth it, but I do want to list some of my personal caveats and tips:
- Make sure you really want to pursue UX/UI/Product Design beforehand.
- Do some research and networking and talk to some current designers. First of all, they'll probably LOVE talking to you and second, they'll be super valuable later for networking purposes.
- Dive into some of the introductory stuff: (Whether its books like The Design of Everyday Things or Just Enough Research, podcasts, or articles)
- A Bootcamp is NOT like a college degree.
- My experience with traditional degrees was that getting into the college or program was an accomplishment. Then, the content you learn is absolutely helpful, but graduating is a key factor. Your degree has worth and value.
- For this Bootcamp, in my opinion, the certification (finishing) isn't really worth much. It's not a school as much as it is a tool. Therefore, it's not about just putting in the time to slink by and graduate, it's really about making sure you are learning, growing, and connecting every step of the way so that you can apply that knowledge during and afterward.
- For me, that meant making sure I understood each assignment, spending a lot of time on the assignment to do it well (usually above the recommended amount), and several iterations based on my mentor's comments.
- The Mentor Relationship is EVERYTHING.
- Basically, the program is a bunch of articles, exercises, and deadlines that you can easily find, replicate, and do on your own (that's not a slight on the material, you can get the syllabi for almost any college course). The value comes from your weekly one-on-one mentor meetings. Prep for these.
- It's your mentor's role to both 1. Encourage you and 2. Push you to grow
- Therefore: If you don't think your mentor is doing a good job at both of these, switch! ASAP! It might be awkward, but that self-advocacy is huge! My mentors were FANTASTIC at both #1 and #2 and it made my experience so incredibly helpful. Please make sure you do what you can do have a similar experience.
- One last quick bit: Find a group crit facilitator that you really like, and lean on their wisdom as well.
- Understand the Curriculum and How To Approach It
- The First Phase is going through the design thinking process with a single project: slowly learning aspects of the process, applying them, iterating, etc. This is the big educational portion.
- The Second Phase is three capstone projects. Each has some loose guidelines but treat this as the beginning of your freelance career. The more you can do real work (work with real clients, real developers, real products) the easier it will be to share in future job interviews and the more appealing you will look to potential employers.
- Finding a Job is a Process
- During Phase 2, take time to understand aspects of the job search process with your mentor.
- You'll have to understand and craft a narrative around: Why did you switch to UX Design? What aspects of your background will make you a unique asset to your future company?
- Networking is so, so important.
- Learn about the Portfolio Review Interview process, and how you can be tailoring your capstone projects into a slide deck.
- Make sure you really want to pursue UX/UI/Product Design beforehand.
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Margaret Verified via LinkedIn
Junior UX Designer
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Overall Designlab is a great program that will get you hired. There is definitely some room for improvement on the education material- some things are a bit outdated, however their mentorship program is what is truly brilliant about the program. I worked with Minnie Kim and I cannot recommend a better mentor. I actually was hired as a UX designer after phase one of the academy because of her guidance and ability to prep me for the real world. She really prepared me for the interview process and how the industry is different from the educational world of UX. I actually got hired on my first UX job interview....I started interviewing early to gain experience and was offered a job! The coolest thing is that Minnie is also a grad of Designlab so she was the perfect person to help me navigate through the program. -
Katie Verified via LinkedIn
Brilliant course mentors and networking opportunities
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I chose this course for the mentorship and networking opportunities and I wasn't disappointed. I couldn't have asked for a better mentor for UX Academy - he had a wealth of industry knowledge and experience, was encouraging and supportive but also pushed me to produce the best work possible. The opportunities for networking are really valuable and Designlab has a large and very active community. Making the most of this by really engaging with your fellow course mates and Designlab Alumni will ensure a far richer leaning experience and also provide much needed support.
I was under no impression that just completing this course would guarantee me a job at the end - it's an intense way of learning and this format won't work for everyone. You need to be self motivated, take ownership of your learning experience and also understand from the start that transitioning your career is not going to be easy. What the course teaches is a solid starting point; it's important to develop your own interests within UX/UI, engage with the wider design community and compliment it with your own learning.
In my opinion the career services content needs improving (this may already be happening as the content for the whole program is regularly being updated and added to); however I found a lot of value in the support provided by my career services mentor who answered all my questions, boosted my confidence and helped me prepare for interviews. As I was lucky enough to find a job within the industry pretty quickly (I come from a background in Industrial design) my career services mentor has been able to continue to provide support as I navigate my first few weeks as a Junior Product Designer. -
Alyshia Verified via LinkedIn
Foundations course review
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I enrolled into DesignLab's Foundations course as someone who had no prior knowledge about the industry at all. I wanted something foundational and something that'll start me off on the right foot and I completed the course feeling just that. The coursework was fairly simple and (in my opinion) definitely not too overwhelming at all for newbies. The coursework was laid out in an easy-to-follow format which encouraged me to keep going, whenever I had a slightly more complex question, my mentor whom I was paired up with would answer them for me allowing me to continue my work with more confidence. The readings provided also supplemented my overall knowledge and I was able to apply them for each final project we had for every unit.
Overall, I did realise that this course focused mainly on UI design work and basic design principles and not much user research or testing, which is understandable and I knew that before enrolling. If you were someone with prior design knowledge already and have experience with design tools such as sketch/figma etc. then I would recommend looking into their Academy course instead(which is what I'm doing right now!). -
Soma Raj laxmi Verified via LinkedIn
My 50 cents on Designlab's UX Foundation Program
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The course module, content, and curriculum are really good and provides well-structured learning and understanding of the User Interface Visual Design. It is an 8-week self-paced curriculum that one can take before their enrollment in the UX Academy full-time career accelerator program. The exercises included in each unit of the curriculum are well thought in terms of both design and software skills for UI Design. I got a lot of learning and understanding of Visual design and in general about the design field from my Foundation's mentor Ryan Byrne. The admin department is extremely helpful as well. The UX Foundations course definitely differentiates Designlab from all other UX Design Bootcamps in the market as it is the best possible way to check whether one's actual interest and skillset lie in the field or not before jumping on to the entire course and career path. I even received a Diversify scholarship from Designlab's end for my upcoming UX Academy full-time career accelerator program. One can easily apply for the scholarship and check their eligibility even before enrolling for the UX Foundations. It is an absolutely recommended course on my end. The cherry on top is that the fees involved in the UX Foundations are refundable in case one enrolls for the UX Academy full-time career accelerator program. It is an absolutely recommended course from my end in case you are completely new to UX/UI. -
Nina Oria-Loureiro Verified via LinkedIn
UX Academy
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I did Designlab's UX Foundations course and UX Academy. I started out with minimal visual design experience, and I found that the Foundations course really helped me to get a good baseline understanding of visual design. I definitely saw an improvement in my design work by the end of that course and it made it pretty easy to get into UX Academy.
UX Academy focuses more on getting you a foundation in UX research & design with the expectation you have some visual design knowledge already. You end up designing 4 capstone projects in total that become the case studies for your portfolio. They give you suggested project briefs, but you can adjust them a bit and find client work that fits the brief instead.
The best part about the experience is the mentorship and the group critiques. My mentors have been so valuable in helping me understand what steps I should be taking in my career as well as giving me constructive feedback on my projects. It's really nice actually having someone who is working in UX to bounce ideas off of. The group critiques are great because you actually have to defend your design choices, which is great practice for interviews and the actual job.
The main con of Designlab is that you aren't working on real client projects. Not sure if this has changed. They do encourage students to find client work for capstones, but that can be hard to manage depending on the track you are on. I think if they had a network of client opportunities for students to chose from who understand student schedules, that would make UX Academy even better!
In terms of career services, I managed to get a UX Designer position about 3 months after graduating UX Academy. A lot of that success comes from the mentorship I received from my career services mentors. They prepped me for interviews, helped me to tailor my resume, and were just great about keeping me positive and on track.
Overall, I'd highly recommend Designlab's UX Academy! -
Celine Verified via LinkedIn
Mentorship and customer service exceeded expectations
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The UXA Foundations program acts as a prep for the actual bootcamp itself (UX Academy), and was helpful in ensuring you're on the right track of mastering basic UI and visual design skills. While I feel the curriculum can be improved, the feedback on my assignments + mentorship calls were super helpful in validating my new found knowledge. It's important to realise that there are an abundance of online resources free for you which can make self-learning possible, but that can get overwhelming. Being in this course helped structure my learning, so that I know what 'chunks' to focus on and what else to bookmark for later. I also requested for a switch in mentor at the start of my program (mentors are great, just that I had some communication issues) and the team was very efficient in ensuring I get the support I needed. -
Mackenzie Fitzpatrick Verified via LinkedIn
Amazing experience!
Designlab was an amazing experience! I really enjoyed the self-paced readings/projects. My mentor, chris, was really incredible and informative and guided me so well through the course! The projects were great experience! -
Desi Dumalo Verified via LinkedIn
UX Academy Foundations
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I come from a small design background, which definitely helped me in this program. My mentor, Sarah, has been absolutely amazing in her critique and just being a genuine person. Throughout my experience at DesignLab, all of my questions were answered quickly and accurately. I rarely had any floating questions they didn't know the answer to. I'm currently going through a career change, and I have never felt more confident than choosing DesignLab. -
Irina Adler Verified via LinkedIn
UX Academy Foundations
I really enjoyed this well-structured course. It is a foundations of UI/UX design course recommended for anyone starting out in the field and wanting to move on to UX Academy bootcamp program. -
Angela Verified via LinkedIn
Needs Improvement
I was a student in DesignLab for a total of 3 months before I decided to withdraw. There were technical issues with Airtable (program they used to schedule group crits), unreliable mentors (mine would show up late or not at all and rescheduled multiple times), and TONS of materials I could get for free elsewhere (lots of the reading linked to external blogs). NOT worth the $7k they charge. -
Bryan Verified via LinkedIn
Data Engineer
An amazing program with great mentors! -
Clive Cadillo Verified via LinkedIn
Best Intro to UX Design Experience
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UX foundations course lays out the basics of UI before diving into the bootcamp.
Overall, the units are nicely laid out and each build upon principles from the previous lesson. The foundations course is self-paced and you the support of their online slack community which is very helpful. The best value for me was the 1:1 mentoring that the course provides; I was fortune to be paired with a great mentor giving me proper guidance as I navigated the course and tips/anecdotes from his experience within the UX field. -
Lucia Verified via LinkedIn
A great taste of what designing is like
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Pros: This course was a great way to get a feel for the UX/UI industry. It mostly focuses on UI design and you learn the fundamentals of using the tool of your choice, as well as general design concepts.
Cons: there was quite a bit of reading, and it'd be helpful if there was more interactive content such as videos, quizzes etc. The UI for project submissions and annotations was a bit messy in my opinion, as you couldn't reply to the individual comment. If you had to make a lot of revisions, it became a long muddy list. -
Doris Cheng Verified via LinkedIn
UX Academy Foundation
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Absolutely loved it! It was a perfect foundation course for people who don't have any design background, like myself. Basic design principles, visual elements and concepts were taught in the course, which helps "activate" my design eyes and look at things (even in daily life) differently. The course can be done at your own pace - typically 1 unit a week, which requires about 10 hours to finish. There are lectures, learning materials, quizzes, notes, and projects due at the end of each unit. Projects are very well instructed, fun and challenging at the same time. Also, each week you get to have an hour meeting with your mentor whom they assigned to you, you will be able to present your work to your mentor, receive any feedbacks for iteration or simply ask any questions you have! It was a good way to make connections. Towards the end of the course, you will have to finish a 10 hour challenge on your own and submit it for committee's review, and if approved, you will be able to enroll into their UX Academy course. Overall great experience, the platform itself is very easy to use, most of the lecture and materials are designed in-house, my mentor was so supportive and encouraging, which made my experience in the course much more enjoyable. Now, I can't wait to start the UX Academy in June! Oh one more thing - good thing is that everything is remote, so you can take the course anywhere in the world, in your preferred timezone :) -
Rahul Salunkhe Verified via LinkedIn
Great step to start UI/UX design career
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Though I had some work experience in the design industry, I never attended any design college before everything I learned was in bits and pieces. I was looking for a well-structured course that covers the basics of the visual design and design process that will help me build strong design foundations. I did a lot of online research and found DesignLab to be the best learning platform and decided to enroll in the UX Academy Foundation course. Now that I have completed the course, I can say that the syllabus is very well-structured, and the content is easy to digest and understand. The main highlight is the 1-1 mentor sessions, and my mentor was really supportive and guided me throughout the course by giving constructive feedback and clearing my doubts. I completed the course successfully on time, and I would also be taking the next step by applying for their UX Academy Course.
This course is really great for beginners, and I recommend this course to anyone interested in switching their careers and who wishes to work in the design industry. -
Ilona Verified via LinkedIn
Learned a lot about UX design and loved the structure of the course!
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I loved the syllabus of DesignLab Foundations course. Everything was laid out very clearly and it's awesome that I can work at my own pace. It's a great introduction to UX design where I learned how to use Figma (or Sketch) and there are step-by-step video tutorials to guide you along as well. The units are broken down into 4-5 lessons, 2-3 mini assignments where you'll reproduce some websites/mobile app screens/logos, and finally, 1-2 projects to unleash your creativity. At the end of the course, I was tasked to finish a project which can now be used for my portfolio. My mentor was extremely helpful and gave constructive feedback while teaching me about UX design. I managed to finish the course in just under 5 weeks and now I feel ready for UX Academy!
If you're looking for a well priced, online, hands-on introduction course to UX design, with a mentor to keep you accountable and answer any of your questions, DesignLb is the perfect choice :) -
Anna Verified via LinkedIn
UX Academy Foundations Course
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I am a teacher currently looking to transition into the field of User Experience. I have been contemplating this career change for a long time and initially felt overwhelmed with trying to figure out which boot camp or program would help me achieve this goal. In the end, I chose Design Lab UX Academy. The foundations course is a requirement to enroll in the UX Academy boot camp unless you have prior design experience. I found that the course is invaluable in this transition to UX from another field/profession because it sets you up with the skills and confidence needed before jumping into an intensive program. I enjoyed the UX of the Design Lab courses and site overall - especially how it shows you the percent of the course you've already completed - this kept me motivated. The mentor sessions and feedback was also a valuable resource since they can give you more individualized attention and support as you navigate the projects and course materials.
Overall, I enthusiastically recommend the UX Academy Foundations course for anyone who is interested in trying out UX or those who have the goal of transitioning into the field of UX. -
Mariana Solnicka Verified via LinkedIn
Comprehensive course
The course was extremely comprehensive although a bit fast-paced for someone with a busy schedule. I loved the one on one time with my mentor and appreciated having peer reviews and connections. I do believe that even with this course alone, you could make a career switch if you work on projects on your personal time. Highly recommend. -
Carly Verified via LinkedIn
Definitely Recommend
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I had a fantastic experience with Designlab's UX Academy. When I enrolled, I was already an experienced designer, but I had been at the same small company for a very long time. I was ready to move on, but despite job hunting for almost 3 years I wasn't getting any interest at all from the senior positions I wanted. I enrolled in Designlab to make my portfolio attractive for senior-level roles, learn what had changed in the industry since my last job hunt, and get inspiration and mentorship to pull me out of my rut. I was able to accomplish exactly that. I have a portfolio I'm proud of, and in my post-UXA job hunt, I got almost a 50% response rate to my applications and landed a senior position within 5 weeks. I realize this is a different experience from most brand new and career transitioning students, but I highly recommend the course for more experienced designers as well. -
Kailey Li Verified via LinkedIn
I'd recommend UX Academy Foundations
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I would recommend anyone with no design experience to take foundations. I thought the curriculum was well thought out, the lecture and assignments were well-paced and covered a decent amount of topics. Learned a lot! I also had the opportunity to learn with my mentor through feedback and discussed the design industry over webcam. Personally, I think learning through feedback is very effective. I also thought the slack community with DesignLab was helpful to help each other out and connect virtually. Overall, I think it was a great experience. -
Nicole Mrñs Verified via LinkedIn
UX Foundations is a great start
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With UX Foundations, you learn principles, tools and industry insights - while having access to 1-on-1 mentorship and a great community to support you with feedback. It's self-paced and the support goes out of their way to check-in if you seem to have some work to catch up on. Sometimes life gets in the way, but the support team is always there to help! With Designlab you get some nice perks to enjoy some tools at discounted prices. -
Colin Ashby Verified via LinkedIn
Best Intro UX Design Course
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DesignLab's UX Academy Foundations course was probably the best online design short course I've taken. For reference, I've taken Skillcrush's Visual Design course & Springboard's UX Design Skills course (discontinued at end of 2019, they now offer a similar Design 101 course)
There are a few reasons DesignLab's UXA Foundations course stood out (especially from those other ones).
- Hands on learning (the curriculum is structured in a way where the emphasis is on doing rather than just reading/watching and taking notes).
- Custom curriculum (DesignLab has a curriculum team that writes and makes the lessons. This is a lot different than Springboard that just links to articles on the web).
- 8 hour long mentor calls (this is the best thing about the course. Having a mentor kept me accountable, on track with completing the course on time, and I learned a lot by having an experienced designer review my work)
$499 price tag felt intimidating at first but wow, is the course worth it. I learned so much -
Alexa Colyer Verified via LinkedIn
Excellent Course - Worth the Time
I love DesignLab! I have taken two courses with them (Design 101 in 2019 and UX: Interaction Design in 2021). Both courses were run extremely smoothly, and I highly recommend Designlab to anyone who is looking to up their design skillset. I find the mentorship aspect of the courses most valuable. Being able to talk to a "real," experienced designer has elevated my performance at work. -
Martha Bawn Verified via LinkedIn
Good way to test the waters
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I wasn't ready to go all in on a months-long bootcamp so this course was a good way to figure out if this was a career change I wanted to make. I really enjoyed the experience and got a lot out of it, especially the larger projects and mentorship sessions. Each unit consists of some reading material, video tutorials, copying exercises, and a design project. The last unit is just one big design project. You're paired with a mentor who gives written feedback on the projects and meets with you one-on-one for an hour for each unit (8 total). I thought the reading material was only okay, but the projects and mentorship sessions were great for getting a feel for what the work is like and learning to use the tools. Would definitely recommend this course. -
Cindy Verified via LinkedIn
Amazing way to solidify my visual design skills!
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I think UXA Foundations was a great learning experience for me! I've taken some courses at Coursera and had some background in Figma prior to starting, so I wasn't sure how much I'd really learn from the course. The answer was A LOT! Each unit contains a couple projects to truly cement what I've learned, and my mentor gave me personalized feedback to help improve my designs. To be transparent, there was a good amount of copywork (copying existing designs) in the curriculum. They're a good way to get an understanding of how shipped designs are built and what tricks they use, and how to accomplish them on your own on a limited time frame. I got really good at using Figma this way! After each copywork assignment, you also got the chance to create your own designs (landing page, hero section, responsive webpage, etc.) and again get feedback from your mentor.
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Austin Silberman Verified via LinkedIn
Awesome Introduction to UI
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I just finished the Design Lab Foundations course, this was an awesome course with access to a mentor throughout the entire process. The course is very well laid out, each unit starts with some readings then you usually have multiple small assignments along with one larger project. The smaller assignments can take around 1-2 hours while the longer projects are usually around 3-4 hours with the final project being 10 hours. I love the simplicity in this course layout, I was able to start each day by doing the readings then working through the assignments, finishing the course in about 3 weeks. This was nearly full time as I worked on it for about 6-8 hours per day during the week. I'm planning to do the UX Academy through Design Lab as they do an incredible job teaching the material and providing support and help along the way. My mentor was fantastic, they work in the industry and answered all my questions about becoming a UX/UI designer, we made iterations to my projects to improve my designs as well. Design Lab has a great modern way of teaching, providing an incredible foundation of design while also ensuring the students are using the most prominent tools in the industry and challenging you with fun and interesting projects. Excited to get started in UX Academy at Design Lab and can't wait to work in this industry. Foundations is perfect if you are considering getting into UX/UI but aren't sure where to get started. -
Brandon Verified via LinkedIn
Solid course to begin a career in UX/UI
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I just want to start by saying this was my personal experience and yours may differ.
Overall I had a good experience with DesignLab and if it wasn't for their program I wouldn't have had transitioned my career as quickly as I have today.
The overall curriculum is well done, and the structure of their course is great! At the beginning of my journey in DesignLab, the staff was great! They were very communicative with any questions I had pertaining to the course, finances, etc. I enrolled as a full-time student and the work was heavy, but enjoyable! Lots of great content although some of the modules had broken links throughout the course which was a bit frustrating, but not a big deal.
My mentor during the course was amazing and helped me so much with questions, feedback, etc. This was probably the best of my journey in DesignLab. I graduated with a high score on my portfolio review and was excited to begin the real journey of landing a position in UX/UI.
Unfortunately, this is where DesignLab stopped providing the support I needed. They did provide some good articles and assignments to help you establish a cover letter, resume, and tips for applying to work. However, the information was no different than Googling "How to land a job in UX design." My main focus and hope during career services was working with a career coach who would help me land a role. I was paired with my first career services coach and although she was knowledgeable in the field, I struggled to communicate with her. She did not speak English well, I had a difficult time understanding her and she didn't seem to understand my questions most of the time. I was not getting detailed feedback on my portfolio, resume, and progress so eventually after a few meetings, I decided to request a new mentor. I filled out the questionnaire to request a new mentor, but my request was ignored. I had to reach back out to request it again, and they made me re-fill out the questionnaire. I was paired with a new career coach and my experience was the same. During each call, they were unprepared and did not have much value to provide to me. They struggled to answer questions about my job search journey, and I felt that our meetings were a waste of time. I stopped scheduling meetings and looked for support elsewhere, where I was able to connect with a career coach who was able to give much more valuable tips on landing a job.
I attempted to contact DesignLab regarding my experience and to request a new mentor, but my emails were ignored again. Not sure why I haven't had contact with them, but it seems like after you graduate from the course, they stop providing the support you would receive during the beginning of the course.
The experience was good, but if you are looking for career support specifically, you may want to check out some other Bootcamp Courses. -
Kee Verified via LinkedIn
Very complete course
Enjoyed DesignLab’s UX Academy. It’s a course that goes over every part of the UX design process and comes with a hugely supportive community and group of mentors. Each week there were plenty of opportunities to not only learn, but to practice UX and get feedback on projects. Great experience! -
Michael Verified via LinkedIn
A solid grounding in user interface design
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I really enjoyed this UX Foundations course. As someone who had ZERO design experience before starting, I really feel like I gained a solid grounding in UI design. Design patterns, design theory, colour selection, typography, iconography etc. I feel as if each of these topics were given equal exposure and I now feel more confident about hopefully enrolling in the Academy soon.
I felt as though the projects in this course were varied in nature and there was a nice balance between this and the theory side of the course. I really enjoyed the experience and would recommend this course to anyone considering entering the world of UX design.
Just a warning though. This course is entirely UI. No UX at all. To my understanding, you will only begin with the UX side of things in UX Academy (which is the big course that comes after UX Academy Foundations). I believe that DL say this is because they want new students to the world of design to have the essential skills in UI (and on the different apps) squared away before they enter the wider learning world of UX.
The only point I would make is that there are quite a few projects that require you to copy existing designs out there. Now, that's fine and it's good practice on whichever design tool you're using. However, I assumed that the reason for all these copy projects was to gain experience on these design tools in preparation for UX Academy As such, it did begin to get a bit boring. When I mentioned this to my mentor, she said another reason for these exercises is so that we as students can start to look out for design patterns and to think about why the designers of these forms, landing pages, app screens etc made them the way they did.
Eureka! I really feel that if Designlab had explained the purpose for these exercises earlier on, I would have approached these projects in a different way and would have gained more from the experience. Now, this isn't a criticism. This course is only a very new one so I am sure they will make improvements down the line. Just something for the DL team to consider.
All in all, a great course and recommended :) -
Danny Kim Verified via LinkedIn
Great intro to UI course
I think it was a really great course for intro UI course.
Nice readings and assignments.
The only problem might be the name itself.
I don't think this is a Foundation UX course, this is more Foundation UI I think...
But I'm not sure, since I'm new to this world of UX. I might be wrong.
It just felt like more UI classes than UX for me.
And they were great. -
Spencer Goldberg Verified via LinkedIn
Design 101, UX Academy and Career Services
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Though I come from a graphic design background, I knew virtually nothing about UX/UI. After a quick four weeks of their Design 101 foundations course, which taught me the fundamentals of UI design, I was ready to take on the three-plus months of the main UX Academy. Though I did have to switch mentors at the very beginning, (my first one was unresponsive) I had a great time. My mentor was outstanding and really guided me through the work. It certainly wasn't easy, and it's a lot of work, but I would absolutely recommend this program to anyone who's interested in UI/UX. I spent only a short time in creative services, but from what I did participate in, it was also great. I found a job pretty early on. -
Rebecca Verified via LinkedIn
UX Academy Foundations
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This program has taught me a lot about design. I really enjoy the mentoring sessions, I chose to complete the course in 4 weeks, and it wasn't overwhelming, I also work full-time (unrelated to design). The program is self-paced and there is not a recommended schedule, so before I started I wrote down when I wanted to accomplish everything. Most of the lectures are writings online, with a few video tutorials. There is a lot of time spent on projects which I really enjoyed, as I prefer doing projects and learning by experience as opposed to tests or lectures. It was really simple to contact my mentor and set up the meetings, she was very helpful and gave me some tricks. I like that all the mentors are working in the UX industry so they have practical experience. Overall, this program was amazing and I am excited to do the full boot camp. -
Janelle Suzara Verified via LinkedIn
Everything you need for a foundations program!
Such an amazing program! I came in with no design experience and ended with so many tools on my belt! The impact of the curriculum is evident by the quality of my projects over time. My mentor was so helpful and available to advise me along the way. The curriculum is straight and to the point and the projects were impactful -
Nathan Verified via LinkedIn
Great UI/UX intro course
I took this full time with the intention of going into UX Academy immediately afterwards. I found their estimates for course work to be underestimates by about 25 to 50%. There are parts units they don't count but are really worth doing if you are not familiar with the tool you use (Figma). -
Michelle Cruz Verified via LinkedIn
Supportive and immersive learning experience!
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I found it quite overwhelming to study during a global pandemic and doing research as to which program I should be in was very overwhelming. I went through tedious research and comparing curriculums to comparing price ranges and it's quite intimidating to get to a course that you've no idea of, let alone spend money for it. I finally decided to shoot an email to Designlab, and actually thought they won't respond but they did! They even gave me a zoom call. The call was from the UK and I'm from southeast Asia, so timezones were in the extremes. Up to this day, I am very grateful for that call from the admissions office before joining the program because at that time someone in my family had Covid and I really appreciate that gesture. I reached out in October 2020 and I finally joined the course in January 2021. I'm halfway through and so excited to step into the new path that I'll have after this. I would also like to stress that the mentor program that they have really helped my confidence in learning and affirmed me in so many ways. You get fully onboarded from the get-go and I really liked that they're very responsive to all of my inquiries and very open to feedback because they want to improve! :) -
Kaavya P Verified via LinkedIn
Great value!
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I chose DesignLab after months of research. I'm a former teacher making a career change, so a comprehensive, flexible curriculum was essential for me. DesignLab uses project based learning to immerse you in the world of UX and UI. The updated Foundations course teaches you the software (Figma, Sketch, XD) through assignments, and your mentor guides you in a personalized way once a week. I couldn't have chosen a better course- and if you finish Foundations, you get a discount applicable towards the next step in the DL course list- UX Academy. For people who want to get their money's worth for their education, choose DesignLab- I'd wager it was more worth it than my university degree!