Designlab
Average Rating4.78
803 Reviews
11 Courses
Designlab is an online training provider that teaches in-demand UX/UI design skills through their UX Academy and short courses. Designlab’s top-tier online programs connect students with expert design mentors, empowering them to launch and advance their career in digital design. Whether students are transitioning into UX design with Designlab’s flagship UX Academy or refining their skills through advanced courses designed for seasoned designers and design teams, Designlab offers meticulously crafted programs to help learners achieve their goals.
With mentorship and community at the core of every course, students benefit from weekly 1:1 video calls in UX Academy and UX Academy Foundations, as well as small peer group sessions in advanced and short courses. Through personalized feedback and guidance, Designlab’s network of experienced mentors helps students navigate the design industry, offering career advice and insights into market trends from a professional’s perspective.
To apply for the UX Academy, applicants need to fill out an online application, and schedule a call with a Designlab representative. Applicants should have a love of good design, a grounding in design fundamentals, and commitment and resilience.
803 Designlab Reviews
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- Kailey LiStudent • 1. UX Academy Foundations • OnlineVerified by LinkedInApr 03, 2021Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob AssistanceN/A
I'd recommend UX Academy Foundations
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 conne...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 MrñsGraduate • 1. UX Academy Foundations • OnlineVerified by LinkedInMar 22, 2021Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
UX Foundations is a great start
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 AshbyStudent • 1. UX Academy Foundations • OnlineVerified by LinkedInMar 13, 2021Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Best Intro UX Design Course
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 rathe...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 ColyerProduct Experience Manager • Graduate • 6. UX: Interaction Design • OnlineVerified by LinkedInMar 10, 2021Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
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 BawnGraduate • 1. UX Academy Foundations • OnlineVerified by LinkedInMar 05, 2021Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob AssistanceN/A
Good way to test the waters
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 ...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. - CindyGraduate • 1. UX Academy Foundations • OnlineVerified by LinkedInMar 04, 2021Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob AssistanceN/A
Amazing way to solidify my visual design skills!
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 goo...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.
- Austin SilbermanGraduate • 1. UX Academy Foundations • OnlineVerified by LinkedInMar 03, 2021Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob AssistanceN/A
Awesome Introduction to UI
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 ...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. - BrandonGraduate • 3. UX Academy (Full-time) • OnlineVerified by LinkedInMar 02, 2021Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Solid course to begin a career in UX/UI
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, e...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. - KeeUX Designer • Graduate • 3. UX Academy (Full-time) • OnlineVerified by LinkedInFeb 24, 2021Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
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! - MichaelGraduate • 1. UX Academy Foundations • OnlineVerified by LinkedInFeb 15, 2021Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob AssistanceN/A
A solid grounding in user interface design
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 nic...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 Kim3D Artist • Graduate • 1. UX Academy Foundations • OnlineVerified by LinkedInFeb 13, 2021Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob AssistanceN/A
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 GoldbergVerified by LinkedInFeb 13, 2021Overall ExperienceInstructorsCurriculumJob Assistance
Design 101, UX Academy and Career Services
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,...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.
Designlab Alumni Outcomes
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Designlab Alumni Reviews Summary
Based on 700+ Designlab alumni reviews on Course Report, students consistently praise the hands-on projects, 1-on-1 mentorship from industry professionals, and the comprehensive UX/UI design curriculum. A student shared, "Designlab is a very solid introduction into the world of UX/UI design... Before you know it, you have the confidence to start making your own icons and building a brand." Some critiques, however, mention the reliance on Discord for community interaction, which some found less professional than alternatives like Slack.
Overall Experience
4.8
Instructors
4.7
Curriculum
4.7
Job Assistance
4.3
More Information
Guarantees Job
Job Assistance
Includes Housing
Offers Corporate Training
Accepts GI Bill
Awards
Recent Designlab News
By Jess Feldman
By Jennifer Inglis
By Jess Feldman
FAQs
How much does Designlab cost?
Designlab costs around $8,499. On the lower end, some Designlab courses like 1. UX Academy Foundations cost $499.
What courses does Designlab teach?
Designlab offers courses like 1. UX Academy Foundations, 2. UX Academy (Part-time), 3. UX Academy (Full-time), 4. Data-Driven Design and 7 more.
Where does Designlab have campuses?
Designlab teaches students Online in a remote classroom.
Is Designlab worth it?
Designlab hasn't shared alumni outcomes yet, but one way to determine if a bootcamp is worth it is by reading alumni reviews. 803 Designlab alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Designlab on Course Report - you should start there!
Is Designlab legit?
We let alumni answer that question. 803 Designlab alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Designlab and rate their overall experience a 4.78 out of 5.
Does Designlab offer scholarships or accept the GI Bill?
Right now, it doesn't look like Designlab offers scholarships or accepts the GI Bill. We're always adding to the list of schools that do offer Exclusive Course Report Scholarships and a list of the bootcamps that accept the GI Bill.
Can I read Designlab reviews?
You can read 803 reviews of Designlab on Course Report! Designlab alumni, students, and applicants have reviewed Designlab and rate their overall experience a 4.78 out of 5.
Is Designlab accredited?
While bootcamps must be approved to operate, accreditation is relatively rare. Designlab doesn't yet share information about their accreditation status.