Designlab Reviews
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Dan Delaporta
Great option for career changers
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As a career changer from HR to UI/UX Design, UX Academy Foundations provided me with the confidence I needed to kick start my new path. It contained a great balance of self-study readings, video tutorials, written reflections, and hands-on, practical projects. I particularly loved the self-paced, online nature of the course so I could work whenever was most convenient for me. I enjoyed having sessions with a mentor and the freedom to schedule them whenever I felt they would be most beneficial for my work. Highly recommend for career changers! -
Arianna Reilly-Bush
Mentorship is golden
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The Designlab UX Design Foundations course is set up to make even thouse unfamiliar with UX suceed. The mentorship program is second to none and the weekly meetings with folks who are in the field and have experience allows you to improve much faster than other programs. The course is broken into bite-size (about 8-10 hrs each) sections and you will cover everything from color theory, designing for multiple devices, fonts, images, alignment and so forth. The program is exactly what's in its title and focuses on your foundations for UX design principles. -
Travis Cooper
Designlab Foundations
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I really enjoyed the learning material and the projects for this course. I am new to UI so I needed to start from the beginning and the Foundations course gave me a good grasp of the tools and terminology of UI. I did find that there was, although interesting, a bit too much unnecessary reading and I also found many of the time limits to complete the tasks to be either much too short or much too long. Besides that though, I would definitely recommend Foundations. -
Sofiane Hamri
Rwarding experience
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To be honest, I was a little skeptical at the beginning before starting the training, I had read some reviews that's it and I immediately embarked on the adventure, in general I only have positive points, the training is really complete with lots of instructions, the designlab team is very responsive, I had some problems at the beginning of the training which meant that I could not start the training in time, I spoke with the admission and Rudi the responsible for the admission was very comprehensive and even gave an extension regarding the duration of the training. as for my mentor, Carla Inacion, was just great, she has a lot of experience and she helped me a lot throughout the process and I really hope to have her as a mentor for the UX academy! -
Carla Sinowato
Informative, Fun, Supportive
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Before Designlab, I had been working through tutorials to learn Figma, but it was only after the course and really enjoying the projects that I have the confidence to take my learning a step further and delve deeper in the world of UIUX. The mentor sessions were particularly key in enabling me to see the UI designs that I encounter with daily but in a new light. It was eye opening to see how much time, effort, and thought goes into the mobile apps and websites we use daily. -
Aracely Amaya
Fun, challenging experience!
I loved taking this course, it was definitely a great way for me to get started learning UX, and to help me figure out if I want to pursue it or not. I can say for sure now that I do. This course challenges you, but I had so much fun every step of the way with it. I'd say it's worth it if you're looking to get into UX design but aren't sure where to start! -
Chaela Kauz
Helped me change my career!
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I started taking Designlab’s foundation courses to learn more about web design and design basics as I was a self-taught graphic designer. I absolutely fell in love with UX/UI and was accepted into their UX Academy program. Designlab has completely changed my life. Two months after graduating, I was able to get a job in ag tech as a UX Designer. I absolutely love what I do and I owe it all to Designlab for giving me the tools to succeed and change my career trajectory! Furthermore, my academy mentor, Hugh, pushed me to really think through assignments and capstones that I believe has helped me to hit the ground running at my new company. Thanks Hugh and Designlab! -
Sasha Ghelani
Truly the future of education for design.
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I really did not occur any cons during my studies in the UX Academy Foundations Program. Everything that was offered by DesignLab and the course has been so carefully thought through which makes an incredible experience as a student, from being able to work at your own pace, to calls with my mentor which allows for feedback that is crucial and essential to view another perspective and level up my design knowledge, as well as how the curriculum is structured is definitely a dream for most students as it’s fun to learn yet incredibly valuable. Even the behind the scenes team that works at DesignLab has been so kind and helpful throughout the entire process. Thank you DesignLab. -
Rory Hextall
Expectations met and exceeded.
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I learned a great amount about the various design principles, ideas, and rules. The reading material and tutorials were very thorough and succinct. It was easy to understand and digest to be able put what was learned into practice. The unit projects were challenging but helped with exploring my creativity as well as incorporating what was learned from the readings and tutorials. After each unit I gained more confidence to move on to the next unit. Especially with help from the weekly calls my mentor. Have a mentor to help you through the learning process is extremely vital. And they matched me up perfectly with my mentor. He was very knowledgeable and professional and understanding. He gave great feedback and answered every question that I had. Overall the Introduction course was a great stepping stone in to getting into the UI/UX career field. -
Jacob Korell
Repetitive, useful, lazy
I came out of the Foundations course by DesignLab with new skills in Figma, which was the most important thing you come out of it with. The curriculum left a little to be desired. It was very repetitive and we were often copying existing websites and replicating them in Figma with little direction as to what we should be noticing about the design. -
Romy Weng
Wonderful experience
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I had a wonderful time during this foundational course. I think it is perfect for someone who is self-paced and is currently working a full-time job. The articles were interesting to read and most importantly, the projects were set up in a way where I was able to learn the software of my choice (Figma).
However, I do think the articles aren't super accurately timed. This is my own preference but I think it would be beneficial if there were more 10-minute articles rather than anything over 20 minutes. It's easier to digest when an article is bite-sized. Also, I was thinking including a sample project during a project brief might be useful. I didn't know how much creative range I had from just the project brief.
Overall, I really like how the curriculum was set up, and the course made me more confident in wanting to apply to the UX Academy. -
Claudia De Leon
Great Introduction to UX/UI Design
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I found the program really good for people with no design background.
- The curriculum contained all the topics necessary to understand design. It definitely gives you the tools and skills to start the UX journey
- The website also helped in understanding the status of the submissions and my progress on the course
- The opportunity to be part of the UX Designlab Discord community was also helpful and it is very active.
- The mentor sessions help a lot in understanding what to improve and any tips towards your goal.
- There was indeed a lot of information provided; however, it would be nice to have video lessons as well. -
Dafna Katz
Great for beginners!
I highly reccomend this course to any interested in going into UX/UI
I have zero experience in design and it helped me so much! I hope to continue on to the UX academy! My mentor was also really really helpful! -
Anya Nelson
Helpful content, clear assignments, and an overall good experience
Pros:
- The content and assignments were clearly layed out
- A ton of resources for outside learning
- A 1v1 mentor that wants to help you succeed
Cons
- Minimal video content
- Only one mentor (only one perspective)
- Mostly focused on UI -
Ashley Hoover
Great Foundational Experience
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I took the UX Academy Foundations course in order to apply for the actual bootcamp, as I didn't have any previous design or UI experience at all. Foundations was well-paced, easy to understand, but also challenging enough to keep me occupied and engaged over the course of the 8 weeks. I enjoyed the projects I completed and always got great, timely feedback from my mentor. I now feel like I have enough foundational knowledge to launch into the bootcamp and continue my education into UX. -
Paul Jarosz
Incredible Mentoring and Resources
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I'm happy that my investment into the Designlab Foundations course exceeded my expectations. The one-on-one mentoring is extremely valuable to elevating your designs to a place that would not be possible otherwise. The course really nicely balances providing learning materials, projects, and mentoring sessions. You also gain access to an incredible community of other students/mentors in Discord to collaborate with. I have a ton of confidence going into UX Academy and ultimately making this career change in general! -
sophia Coulter
Learned so much so fast!
I truly enjoyed my experience with DesignLab's UX Online Foundations Course. I had a background in Industrial Design so some topics came easy to me but I feel like I learned more in 8 weeks than I did in a semester at school. I also love that I'll continue to have access to the resources they supplied me with long after completing it. I'm excited to continue on to the academy! -
Molly Reeder
Best hands on UX course!
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Designlab’s UX Academy Foundations course was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had with school. I’ve always been a big advocate for trade school and hands on learning. I feel like it not only gives you a better idea of the field that you’re getting into but also allows you to learn so much faster. Foundations perfectly balanced the instruction given and the hands on project work you complete to give you a great experience. I did a lot of research on other UX design bootcamps before deciding on Designlab. What stood out to me the most was the fact that the Foundations course existed. It was the perfect opportunity to get your feet wet, build your design skills, and most of all, see if UX/UI design is even something you’d want to pursue further! I’m already planning to apply for UX Academy because I loved everything I learned in Foundations so much and want to pursue a career full time in UX design! I wish I had known about this course sooner because I wouldn’t have wasted the money and time I did spend in college before deciding it wasn’t what I wanted. -
Jamie Park
Excellent
The course is designed very well to fit anyone's schedule, has great mentors with real UX experience who provide relevant feedback, in-house lessons, and is extremely affordable. I will be continuing my journey at UX Academy! -
Andy Xu
Rigorous and worthwhile
I loved this course! Great curriculum that will definitely get you up to speed with UI design. I learned a lot of design principles. The mentorship aspect of this class was also amazing. It’s great to have an industry expert you can bounce ideas off of and is willing to give feedback. -
Pelin Koroglu
I completed UX academy foundations. This course was well organized
I liked how the course was organized. My mentor was really helped me throughout the process, he was always available and answered my all questions. It was also nice to see the other students’ work and make some comments on it. -
Jordan Johnson
Informative, Exciting and Good kind of Challenge
I had such a great experience with DesignLab Foundations! They prepare you ahead of time, the courses are well thought out and they really set you up to succeed. I loved getting to meet with my mentor each week and look forwards to the UX Academy. -
Jessica Gonzales
Genuine Mentorship
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The best reason for attending UX Foundations course with Designlab is how they are genuinely committed to the fostering of the next generation of designers. The individual mentors are assigned based on student specifications and interests. The format for interaction helps students (even the shyest of learners) to gain valuable insight from practicing designers and experience the more realistic workplace feedback and conversations around design since they work closely alongside you as you work on different design briefs. My mentor spent a great deal of time with me to review opportunities to reiterate my work and furthermore become more comfortable talking and analyzing design efficacy in my own work and that of others. Nishant Rai was especially helpful as a mentor since he made ample time to discuss design concerns and demonstrate best practices and more sophisticated techniques. -
Sonal Patel
The perfect bootcamp for prospective UX designers!
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Having no professional design experience, DesignLab actually provides all the tools needed for a career in UX. The course is constructed very professionally with tons of resources and materials available to their students. I feel very well prepared going into the UX academy and feel confident DesignLab will give me everything I need and more for a career in UX design. So grateful to have discovered DesignLab, cannot recommend it more! -
Rebecca Coursey
Designlab gave me the support to change my life
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I was more than ready for a career change after 17 years in the classroom. I did my research and chose DesignLab for the mentors and group crits. I thoroughly enjoyed the structure and delivery of the curriculum. My mentors were crucial in giving me the encouragement and support I needed to make a life changing career switch. I never actually made it to Career Services because I landed a job before I was done with Phase 2. -
Brook S.
Great Course That Is Well Worth the Price Point
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I attended DesignLab's UX Academy Foundations course with the intention of doing the full-time, 4-week course. Unfortunately, my mentor was sick one week which pushed me back to a 5-week course. I was expecting to devote about 20 hours a week to the program, but realistically I probably spent 30 hours a week. The time estimates on the website seemed to be based on the expected time to read and complete the assignments, but didn't take into account the time for project reiterations, mentor meetings, crit reviews, and engagement in the Discord channels. I also spent extra time digging deeper into areas that were interesting through outside books or websites. (Not that I had to do that, but felt compelled to because I was so excited about everything that I was learning!) The coursework is really well designed, other than the occasional spelling error, and is a mixture of written lessons, video instructions, short assignments, and full-length projects. The assignments build upon each other and there are some units where you then use all the small projects you have designed to complete a large project. This sort of learning structure worked really well for me. I sincerely enjoyed the course, learned a ton of new things, and am really proud of the projects that I designed.
You are paired with a mentor that you meet with 1-2 times a week, depending on how many weeks you are devoting to the course. My mentor provided great feedback on my designs and taught me new techniques to employ in Figma. She also gave me insight into the industry, the path she took to get where she is, and how to approach the job hunt and interview process. The downside with the mentors is that there doesn't seem to be very much regulation with how they mentor. Some mentors provide written reviews of your work through the platform, giving feedback every 1-2 days, but mine only interacted with me during our meetings. That meant that sometimes I just had to plow ahead in the course without knowing if I'd completed the previous section successfully. It worked out fine in the end, but it did make me wish that DesignLab employed more questions on their mentor matching form in regards to learning style and work ethic.
You also are asked to critique one student project and attend one crit review with other students during the course. Though I thought these were great ideas in theory, the execution was a little wonky. There wasn't enough time in the crit review for everyone to present their work and I felt like it was difficult for students to take advice seriously from some random student that they didn't know. This aspect of the program could potentially be improved by placing students (or promoting them to place themselves) into small groups of 20 that could get to know each other and their design work. This way the critiques would hold more weight for the students.
That said, overall, I highly recommend the course, am impressed with how much content is included at the price point, and think it is useful whether taken alone or used as a prerequisite for the full UX Academy. -
Britt Shook
Seamless Structure, Great Mentorship
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I attended DesignLab's UX Academy Foundations course as a prerequisite for their full-length UX design bootcamp, UX Academy. I studied on a 4-week track, devoting approximately 20-30 hours per week on my coursework. Although the course is intensive, it is extremely well designed with a mixture of lessons, short assignments, and full length projects. Each part of the course builds upon your skills and sets you up for success in the next assignment or project. I never felt unprepared for what was being asked of me. Additionally, you are assigned a mentor that you meet with at least once per week throughout your course and is responsible for providing feedback on each of your assignments and projects. My mentor gave very detailed and thoughtful feedback, and was encouraging, yet challenging. I think this was a crucial aspect to my growth in the course. -
Kate H.
Design Lab - High Quality
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Design Lab is rigorous and it serious about preparing you for the UX Academy. I did not expect to learn as much as I did in such a short amount of time, and the format for online learning is the perfect mix of support, content availability, and hands on projects. I am looking forward to the Academy and feel prepared going in. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a career switch. -
Shawna Sayar
Designlab UX Academy Foundations is great!
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The Designlab UX Academy Foundations course is great! It helped me prepare for applying to the UX Academy bootcamp. The coursework was well structured and timed appropriately. I have a background in tech product dev but not in design and I think this course is really helpful for those without an artdegree to get a good basis on design principals. The one on one mentoring sessions are great - definately helped me understand concepts more quickly and improve my design process. -
Dana Hege
Loved it!
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I really enjoyed Designlab's Foundations bootcamp! I'm not completely new to design, but I found that I learned a lot! I really enjoyed the projects and found them to be stretching in a good way. I also enjoyed my interactions with my mentor, who was fun and easy to relate to. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone wanting to get into design, improve their skills, and get practice doing actual projects! -
Alisa Kravchenko
Well-structured course with lots of practice
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Overall, I had a great experience as a Designlab student. I come from a completely different background, but I was interested in design for most of my life, so my previous knowledge definitely helped me finish the course in 4 weeks. I chose to do it in 4 weeks because I wanted a more intensive (and intense) experience to help me prepare for UX Academy, and in the end this time limit ended up being perfect for me. There was always work to do without it seeming impossible or discouraging. I do recommend everyone who wants to be a full-time student at UX Academy to try and finish Foundations in 4 weeks, because it will only get more intense from there.
My mentor was great at helping me along the way, there were never any delays with feedback and they were especially good at providing me with insights about what working in the industry is like.
The material was well-structured, I liked the order in which the topics were presented, like leaving typography and color for the end so that students could focus on other, more challenging things while working mostly in greyscale. A lot of additional resources were provided like articles, online tools, literature etc. My only criticism is that there was a lot of reading to do which would sometimes slow down the process for me and other students I talked to. I think it would’ve been less tedious if the same information was presented in a video format, especially with stuff like the history of typography or Figma/Sketch tutorials.
In the end, I feel like the course was 100% worth its value. Of course if you’re driven enough you could find the same information for free, but I knew I needed structure, deadlines and lots of practice to motivate me. That’s exactly what I got from Foundations, so I would definitely recommend it to people who want to transition to UX.
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Alycia Johns
DesignLab was fun, informative and engaging!
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I came into this not knowing a single thing about design and by the end of my course I felt like I had a genuine understanding to what design was, in essence, and I saw my progress get better and better each week! The one on one mentorship was crucial to my understanding and building a healthy mindset when it comes to constructive criticism and iteration. The lessons were engaging and fun, not slow and boring or hard to grasp. The assignments were instrumental and helped me progress more and more with each week and I’m amazed at just how much I was able to learn in a few short weeks.
The only thing I would count as a negative is the time constraints, it is encouraged to just do what you can in the time frame given, but I feel in order to get the most from your one on one with your mentors, it’s good to have a finished product to present to them in order to give appropriate feedback. -
Nina Lisitsa
Overwhelming at times, but overall exhilarating and rewarding.
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I thoroughly enjoyed the UX Academy Foundations course. I had a rocky start. My first mentor never engaged with me so I had to apply for a mentor switch. The administration staff was quick to help and the process was pretty easy. By the end of the second week, I had received feedback from both weeks and had a great first meeting with my new mentor who has 20 years of experience in the industry.The course is not easy, to say the least. Most of the readings took me longer to complete than the suggested times, so overall I have been putting in closer to 15 or more hours of work a week in the part-time track, but I still feel like the program is worth it. Now that I am in my final week, I can certainly see how far I have come in the course. I do also want to say that the discord community is an essential part of the program. Get on there, share your work and find a handful of students to check in with weekly. It will really help you all stay on track and stay motivated through some of the tougher weeks. Also, get used to the unexpected. Going into this course, I didn't think I would enjoy the visual design portion but as it turns out, I really did! I specifically enjoyed creating icons in Figma. Last note and suggestion. Learn auto layout. Keep practicing even when it seems like nothing is working out and I promise it will become your friend once you get the hang of it. -
dong k
great course lessons
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Pros.
- the course lessons would be my number 1 choice. it was easy to understand each content and supported each lessons with reference images and extra information or links to dive in deeper.
- providing estimate time on each course lesson / assignment would take helps managing your time.
- able to work on your pace. does not need to wait for approval from the mentor on each unit.
- submitting assignment and receiving feedback helped to improve the work and learn mistakes
cons.
- the last unit has to be unlocked by the mentor in order to move on and depending on the pace / situation, there could be a wait time for the mentor to approve. -
Alex Y
Good introductory course to UX design
I went into this course with very little design experience but had a very helpful mentor that gave me excellent feedback and am now in UX Academy. I do wish there was more videos and some info was dated which required me to look for tutorials and resources outside of the course. I think as long as you have a good mentor, you're in good hands. -
Ashley Jho
Great bootcamp for UX design
I enjoyed completing the Foundations course from Designlab to see if I will further pursue UX design. Needless to say, I had an overall great experience from the help of my mentor, the layout of the units, and the tutorials they provided for the students. Will definitely recommend if anyone is interested! -
Chaela Kauzlarich
Helped me make a career switch!
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I started with DesignLab’s foundation course, which primarily went into UI and design principles. I loved it so much I applied for the UX academy and got in. I learned so much from the course, my mentor, and the designlab community… not to mention the excellent projects that gave me a bunch of hands on experience which is the best way I learn.
This course is definitely not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of work and for the past 10 months, my free time was primarily doing the coursework, but it was 100% worth it! I got a job as a UX Designer two months after finishing my portfolio.
Thanks DesignLab!! -
Melissa
UX Design
Loved it so much and felt like I learned a lot. I can’t wait to really dove into the Academy and seeing what else I can learn. -
Stephan G
Great Inteo course, awesome Mentord
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I enjoyed the program which gives a good introduction to using Figma and mostly UI Design. The mentors I was paired up with were excellent and really really experienced and also love passing on their knowledge. The mentor sessions itself are worth the course. It is though designed as a primer for UX Academy, which is clearly communicated beforehand, UX design as a whole is barely touched on. I am not planning to take Academy course at the moment and skill can recommend UX Foundations. -
Christine
Convenient & Helpful
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Designlab’s UX Academy Foundations is useful, easy to access, and productive in the long run. I’m glad I took the time to focus on the basics and to get to know Figma.
I have some experience with graphic design, but not with web or app design. Foundations gave me the understanding and confidence to design basic websites and mobile apps.
The structure of the lessons is consistent and easy to understand. The pacing is extremely flexible.
One of the best features is your personal mentor. It depends on each mentor’s availability, but I was able to meet with mine once a week. If you want to finish Foundations quickly, you ought to consider how frequently you are able to meet with your mentor.
Another great feature is the Discord community. Any questions or struggles you might have can be answered quickly by fellow students, mentors or Designlab representatives, whether it might be about the curriculum, the program, Figma, anything.
Overall, I’m satisfied with Foundations. I’d recommend it to a friend.