Designlab

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!  Read less

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.  Read less

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. Read less

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.  Read less

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.  Read less

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. Read less

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!  Read less

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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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. Read less

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.  Read less

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.  Read less

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.  Read less

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!  Read less

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!! Read less

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. Read less

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. Read less

Design lab foundations was a good start to get your toes wet to see if you actually like this field or not. I got a lot of hands on experience ok working via figma and creating landing pages and mobile apps. It was a really fun and educating course. Would recommend for anyone looking to switch careers.  Read less

I am so glad that I decided to study with Designlab. The course was structured well with great resources which prepared me well for the real world. I really appreciated my 1-on-1 mentor sessions where I got really valuable feedback. The course set me up for creating a solid portfolio and preparing for a job. Read less