Designlab

I was very happy with my experience at Designlab. The foundation course gave me the opportunity to learn more about UX design with only having to commit to a 4-8 week long course. I gained an understanding of all the different aspects of UX while also putting what I learned to the test with the help and guidance from my mentor. Over all it was a great experience Read less

This is a great foundation course to learn about good theory and learn how to use Figma with great tips. 
I enjoyed the course and I felt like I learned a lot. Having a mentor is helpful, I got along great with my mentor. My mentor helps to iterate my work as well as teaches me how to approach a project and how to critique the work. 
It is a very flexible program, I could learn it at my own pace while working full-time. I think that this foundation course  is essential to take this foundation course before joining the UX Academy.  Read less

You have access to a lot of theory divided into units. At the end of each unit, you have to submit a project. Throughout the course, you have online meetings with your mentor, providing an opportunity to ask anything related to the field. Overall, I find it to be a positive experience, but if you already have experience with projects, I don't think it is a good investment. Read less

DesignLab Foundations was an introduction to something that I had zero familiarity with, so I was nervous to start the course. The information was a lot to take in at first but when the courses started, everything was streamlined and organized. The mentor sessions were the best part -- I still can't believe I was able to get such credible feedback from a professional at the price I had paid just to learn. I received excellent 1-on-1 focus and graduated with an abundance of optimism toward a new career path.  Read less

I am writing this review about the UX Academy Foundations course. I had a wonderful experience working with my mentor, and I really feel that she put a lot of effort into her comments. I felt that my design skills definitely grew a ton in this short class.  Read less

I really enjoyed the Foundations course with DesignLab. I committed myself full time and successfully completed the material in 4 weeks as I planned. The material was dense enough to learn some basics and make me feel confident on my path. I do suggest having knowledge of Figma before beginning. I was accepted into their UX Academy post completing Foundations and am very excited! Their staff is very supportive and they have a very large community which is great. They provide you with a mentor and you can request to switch mentors if you'd like. I did this and was very glad with the outcome! My mentor was extremely supportive and was fun to work with. For someone just getting started I feel like I chose the right bootcamp. Everyone in the community is all about UXUI, I definitely recommend DesignLab. Read less

The structure of Designlab's UX Foundations course is excellently crafted! The lessons from reading, how to videos and hands on projects are well curated and it really made my professional designer skills to expand and emerge. I found the team at Designlab and my mentor to be encouraging, engaging and welcoming. I'm glad I chose to enroll; I've learned so much in 8 weeks that I don't think I would have learned in any other UX program. Overall a very excellent experience.  Read less

I really enjoyed this course and I am so glad I decided to sign up! The units were well put together and the projects put all the information together. Having a mentor and being able to have a meeting with them for each unit is really what made this course a 5star experience for me! My mentor was able to answer all questions, gave useful feedback on my work, and in general gave me great advice! I would definitely recommend this course to anyone interested in learning more about UI design!! Read less

I really enjoyed the UX Academy Foundations course through DesignLab. I liked the fact that this program was separate from the full UX Academy and focused exclusively on UI/design. I felt like it covered a lot of information in a rigorous but not overwhelming fashion. I liked the inclusion of optional projects for additional practice. Overall, my skills and work improved dramatically over the course of the program, and I feel like it was absolutely worth the money. I'm looking forward to continuing on to their UX Academy.

I am an older student going through a career change and am very self-motivated, therefore I did not struggle with the asynchronous nature of the lessons. I did the optional projects and used the outside resources offered by the program, and I think this is one of the reasons I saw so much improvement. In short, I think you get out of it what you put in. I can imagine if someone tries to rush through, they might feel somewhat lost.  Read less

I am truly surprised with how much I have learned in such a short time. This was a great course, and I especially found the mentorship part to be very helpful, as it allowed me to get personalized feedback and advice on how I can improve my work. That's not something I could have had if I was simply learning on my own. Read less

Designlab stood out to me from other bootcamps because they pair you up with a dedicated mentor. I met with my mentor every week and they helped me review my designs and taught me so much more that you don’t get from just studying. I found Designlab to also be much more affordable than other bootcamps. I’d recommend Designlab to anyone looking for a career in design.  Read less

If you’re looking to get into User Experience design, consider DesignLab.  Their program takes you from the most basic level of interface design, elevates you to a problem solver that can offer UX best practices to a company, and supports you through the job search process until you land a role. You’ll start the program by going through their in-depth curriculum on research, idea generation, information architecture, interaction design, UI design, and testing. Once you’ve cleared the curriculum you’ll dive into your three capstone projects that you’ll showcase on your portfolio, which is your main tangible product coming out of this boot camp as you’ll use this to apply for your new UX job. During both of these phases, you’ll have an assigned mentor who will meet with you weekly to discuss your progress or anything you’d like, to help answer questions and provide clarification and encouragement. These sessions are also great for keeping you accountable to a steady pace of work as you don’t want to waste your time joining a Zoom call with a UX mentor and have nothing to talk about. I learned a lot about the curriculum but my one piece of feedback for DesignLab was to provide a continuous, uniform example that stretches across many units. They provide great examples but I felt I would've had an easier time connecting the dots if the examples all tied in together closely, much like the lifecycle of a real project that a company might execute. Once you’ve completed your curriculum and capstones you’ll enter the career services phase where you’ll be assigned a mentor specifically skilled in helping candidates with job placement. They’ll help you polish your portfolio, look at job reqs, critique your resume, practice interviews, and anything else you might need help with. The career services portion was the biggest part I had questions about going into this program as job placement was extremely important to me. Admittedly this support is dependent on the mentor that you get, but I feel that DesignLab’s approach to getting you someone experienced in UX job placement enforces a minimum level of quality needed. They have a strict but extremely fair tuition reimbursement policy (as of when I graduated in April 2023). At a high level, if you exert a genuine effort in getting a generalist UX job and get zero offers within six months, you get your full tuition back. Obviously, you can’t just sit and wait six months to get tuition back. You have to be applying to the minimum amount of jobs weekly. You have to attend a networking event once a month. There are other qualifications, but you get the picture. These restrictions are in place so you’re doing the minimum amount that would make you successful in getting interviews and jobs. Success in this boot camp, as with any other boot camp, completely depends on your effort. If you go into this planning to half-ass the curriculum and projects, you significantly reduce your chances of getting a job. You decide not to make an effort to network with people during career services or don't apply to the minimum job count, you probably won't get a job at all.  You go in with a good attitude and a willingness to apply yourself, you come out with a strong chance to get a job even in a market going through layoffs. Read less

I thoroughly enjoyed every part of the eight-week course! Each project kept me engaged and challenged. My initial concern with online design courses was the potential to over-analyze projects and spend too much time on them (something I struggle with when it comes to creative work). However, this course expertly integrates deadlines and offers detailed time management guidelines for every project. They emphasize that first submissions don't need to be finished and that iteration is key, an approach that greatly enhanced my learning experience. Also, the mentorship sessions were amazing and offered in-depth feedback on my work. This feedback not only improved my course projects but also continues to be so helpful for my design work outside of this course. I highly recommend it! Read less

projects and course material was decent for an introductory course. if there was a "day in the life of a designer chat or Q and A" for each cohort that would be great. what really made the experience great was my mentor - so knowledgable, so great at teaching. just wow  Read less

UX Foundations course provided me with a really good foundation as to what UX/UI is. Before I started, I didn't really know too much about it. Doing the UXF course helped me decide whether this was for me or not. After doing UXF, I have decided to continue on to UX Academy so I can learn more about UX/UI and hopefully turn this into a career! Read less

The UX foundations course is a great launching point if you are someone without any design experience. It's also very flexible in regards and pacing and work load is manageable. The end of the course with the 10 hours challenge forces you to use everything you have learned to create a website.  Read less

I've had a great time in the Designlab UX Foundations course.  I am currently waiting on feedback on my final projects before applying to the UX Academy, and am expecting to have everything finalized and my application to the UX Academy completed by the end of the week.  The course  has taken me 5 weeks going at about 20 hours per week.  I was not rushed through any of the reading, was able to complete the projects thoroughly, and feel like I have learned a lot.  My mentor was great, she always had tips and feedback for me, was able to answer any questions I had, was flexible with scheduling our meetings, and was all together a great person to work with.  This is a course designed to give you the base knowledge to succeed in the UX Academy, so there hasn't been any job support yet.  I'm hoping that my experience in the UX Academy will be as enjoyable as Foundations has been. Read less

I think if you're curious about UI/UX but not ready to commit thousands of dollars, this course is the way to go. You get paired with a mentor (and don't be afraid to ask to change if you're not vibing with your first mentor) it's so worth it to go through the program and connect with your mentor to see if their career path is right for you.  Read less