designlab
About
About
Designlab teaches in-demand UX/UI design skills online through 4-week short courses and a 15 to 28-week UX Academy. Designlab courses consist primarily of hands-on projects and 1-on-1 mentorship from expert designers so that students can master the techniques needed to design stunning web and mobile products. The Designlab community of mentors gives students timely feedback on work and Skype with students regularly to help them improve. Mentors include top industry professionals from companies like Twitter, Airbnb, Dropbox, and more. Courses are self-paced, which means students can complete the readings/projects whenever their schedules permit. Designlab is ideal for a developer, product manager, entrepreneur, marketer, aspiring designer, or anyone working on web/mobile products.
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.
Graduates of the UX Academy work with a career coach to get help with their portfolios, job applications, and interview technique. Top graduates also get access to Designlab's hiring partners and exclusive job opportunities. Designlab offers a 6-month tuition-reimbursement guarantee for graduates of the UX Academy who are job hunting.
Recent Designlab Reviews: Rating 4.79
Recent Designlab News
Courses
Courses
Design 101
ApplyStart Date February 5, 2021 Cost $399 Class size N/A Location Online In this 4-week online course built for design beginners, you'll learn about the fundamentals of color theory, typography, and layout in web design, gain familiarity with the design tool of your choice (Photoshop, Sketch, or Illustrator), hone your skills & start building your portfolio with a series of hands-on projects, work with your own expert mentor, with written feedback on all your work and 4 Skype sessions. You'll end the course with a certificate of completion, a portfolio of projects, and a strong foundational skill set in design.Financing
Deposit N/A Getting in
Minimum Skill Level Beginner Placement Test No Interview No More Start Dates
February 5, 2021 - Online
UI Design
ApplyStart Date February 5, 2021 Cost $399 Class size N/A Location Online In this 4-week online course you will develop a detailed "eye" for visual design, learn to decide which typefaces to use, become equipped to choose and create color palettes, learn about best practices for UI patterns and reusable design components, and learn how to create retina-ready designs that scale across different devices. You'll end the course with a certificate of completion, a portfolio of projects, and a strong skillset in UI design. This course is intended as a follow-up to our Design 101 course, or for anyone who has a basic understanding of visual design principles. Students are expected to be acquainted with a professional design tool before they begin this class.Financing
Deposit N/A Getting in
Minimum Skill Level N/A Placement Test No Interview No More Start Dates
February 5, 2021 - Online
UX Academy Foundations
ApplyStart Date February 8, 2021 Cost $499 Class size N/A Location Online Looking to transition your career into the world of UX/UI design? Learning visual and UI design is a great place to start. Through our flexible, 4-8 week UX Academy Foundations course, you'll work 1-on-1 with an expert mentor to learn key visual design concepts and practical skills. Your mentor will give you written feedback on all your work and also meet with you for 8 personalized sessions to further discuss concepts, project work, and the UX/UI industry in general. By the end, you'll have completed a final design challenge which you can use in your application for UX Academy to showcase your newfound knowledge and skills.Financing
Deposit N/A Getting in
Minimum Skill Level Beginner Placement Test No Interview No More Start Dates
February 8, 2021 - Online
UX Academy (Full-time)
ApplyStart Date January 25, 2021 Cost $6,749 Class size N/A Location Online UX Academy is an online design intensive, aimed at career-switchers looking to make the move into UX/UI/product design roles. You'll complete over 480 hours of coursework, develop a portfolio, and hone your skills through 1-on-1 mentorship, peer Group Critiques, and Career Services.Financing
Deposit $399 Financing Available through Climb CreditTuition Plans 6 month internal payment plan and extended plans financed by Climb Credit Getting in
Minimum Skill Level Design 101 or its equivalent (foundational skills in visual/graphic design); knowledge of at least one major design tool (Sketch, Photoshop, or Illustrator) Prep Work Application pre-requisites: https://help.trydesignlab.com/hc/en-us/articles/218228487-How-do-I-apply-to-UX-Academy-Are-there-any-prerequisites-for-the-program- Placement Test No Interview No More Start Dates
January 25, 2021 - Online Apply by January 15, 2021
UX Academy (Part-time)
ApplyStart Date January 25, 2021 Cost $6,749 Class size N/A Location Online UX Academy is an online design intensive, aimed at career-switchers looking to make the move into UX/UI/product design roles. You'll complete over 480 hours of coursework, develop a portfolio, and hone your skills through 1-on-1 mentorship, peer Group Critiques, and Career Services.Financing
Deposit $399 Tuition Plans 6 month internal payment plan and extended plans financed by Climb Credit Getting in
Minimum Skill Level Design 101 or its equivalent (foundational skills in visual/graphic design); knowledge of at least one major design tool (Sketch, Photoshop, or Illustrator) Prep Work Application pre-requisites: https://help.trydesignlab.com/hc/en-us/articles/218228487-How-do-I-apply-to-UX-Academy-Are-there-any-prerequisites-for-the-program- Placement Test No Interview No More Start Dates
January 25, 2021 - Online Apply by January 15, 2021
UX: Interaction Design
ApplyStart Date February 5, 2021 Cost $399 Class size N/A Location Online In this 4-week online course you’ll develop an eye for seeing, and a language for talking about, interaction design. You'll become familiar with human interface guidelines, principles of usability and fundamental interaction design details. You'll also practice evaluating if and how interactions can be improved. Finally, you'll develop a portfolio to demonstrate your interaction design prowess. As with all Designlab courses, you'll work 1-on-1 with an expert mentor, with feedback on all your work and weekly Skype sessions. By the end, you’ll have an interaction design toolkit for evaluating and improving the usability of your products. You’ll have examples of your process and work that you can speak to and draw on in related projects. This course is especially useful to anyone looking to develop better communication of and confidence in their interaction design work, and for folks looking to develop their ability to understand and work with product designers.Financing
Deposit N/A Getting in
Minimum Skill Level Beginner Placement Test No Interview No More Start Dates
February 5, 2021 - Online
UX Research & Strategy
ApplyStart Date February 5, 2021 Cost $399 Class size N/A Location Online In this 4-week online course, you'll learn the basics of UX, and user-centered design, explore the core research techniques professionals use to gain customer insight, and get experience by working on hands-on projects, develop your UX portfolio, creating deliverables like personas, storyboards, customer journey maps, & empathy maps, and work with your own expert mentor, with feedback on all your work and weekly Skype sessions. By the end of this course, you'll know all about user research, and have a toolkit of methods you can use throughout your career. You'll have a strong portfolio of work and crucial real experience to draw upon for interviews. Whether you want a career in UX/UI Design, or you just want to build better products, this course is the perfect next step.Financing
Deposit N/A Getting in
Minimum Skill Level Beginner Placement Test No Interview No More Start Dates
February 5, 2021 - Online
Reviews
Designlab Reviews
- Fantastic Jump Start!- 11/24/2020Michael Lupia • UX Design Student • Graduate • Course: UX Academy Foundations • Campus: OnlineAs someone exploring a potential UX/UI Design career switch, Designlab's UX Academy Foundations course was the perfect introduction to their main course, UX Academy (in which I am currently enrolled). Foundations taught exactly that: the core principles and building blocks necessary to pursue a career in this field, a foundation which I know I would not have been as successful without. The curriculum is engaging, and very thorough for an intro course. But it is the professional mentorship that really takes things to the next level, adding a personal touch and tips/advice/critique from someone with experience in the field. I highly recommend this course to anyone looking to get a start on their education in UX/UI!
- It's a great course- 11/22/2020Jessie • Technical Writer • Graduate • Course: UX Academy Foundations • Campus: OnlineDesignlab really takes care of you. They provide you with the tools you need to learn, fast, efficiently and in the comfort of your own home. The mentor sessions are really helpful too, provided that your mentor puts the effort into your learning. If you feel like your mentor isn't putting much into reviewing your work, then you should probably switch mentors as fast as you can. The only con is that it wasn't entirely clear what was expected of me to ace the course, for instance, I had trouble getting into the Academy because I didn't attend all of my mentor sessions. I don't remember seeing/hearing anything about that being mandatory, actually, it rather seemed as if it was more recommended. In any case, they still do a great job with onboarding, and community engagement as well so if you're unsure of anything — ask away.
- Great Course to Learn UX Foundations!!- 11/22/2020Lauren Pontzer • Graduate • Course: UX Academy Foundations • Campus: OnlineThe foundations program gives a great intro to UX design and introduces tools and concepts throughout. I felt like I was in the program much longer than I was because I had learned and done so much by the end. I highly recommend this to anyone considering UX!
- Good intro to UX field- 11/22/2020Hannah Groudas • Graduate • Course: UX Academy Foundations • Campus: OnlineHelpful for dipping your toe into the field of UX. Mentor ship was amazing and coursework was both fun and challenging.
- Designlab's UX Academy Foundations- 11/21/2020Ren Blakely • Graduate • Course: UX Academy Foundations • Campus: OnlineI had initially signed up for Design 101 with Designlab as a prerequisite to UX Academy, but I was asked if I wanted the opportunity to be a part of the beta cohort of UX Academy Foundations. I am extremely glad I chose to take part in UX Foundations. I not only learned core design fundamentals, but also learned so much about UX and UI design through the course and through talking with my mentor. The course was twice as long as Design 101 would have been, and I am very thankful for that extra time to take on projects, mentor sessions, and getting familiarized with Figma.
Now that I am in UX Academy, I am grateful for all that I learned in UX Foundations. I don't have to spend time learning Figma, and I am more prepared for the coursework than I would have been just taking Design 101. I definitely recommend this course whether you plan on continuing with Designlab's UX Academy or you want a solid introduction to UX design.
- Learned a ton!- 11/21/2020Gen Ariella • Student • Course: UX Academy Foundations • Campus: OnlineI really enjoyed this course. It allowed me to sharpen my knowledge of design principles, visual design, and UI design. I particularly liked getting feedback from my mentor and iterating my projects. UX Foundations was a great pre-cursor and gave me the confidence to take the UX Bootcamp course I'm in now.
- UX Foundations Review- 11/20/2020Chae Kwon • Graduate • Course: UX Academy Foundations • Campus: OnlineI was gonna do the Design 101 course but was given the opportunity to try their new program (UX Foundations course) before the launch and I'm really glad I took the opportunity. Overall, I think it was a nice introductory to the bootcamp before getting more intense.
COURSE: It was very much more focused on learning about the design aspect like design fundamentals, layout, color, font, etc. The course had a nice balance between the readings and assignments/projects. The readings were not longer than 20 minute reads and I found it to be very interesting. It felt like I was reading an interesting blog about design. There were several copywork assignments where we had to copy an existing design. I found it to be pretty redundant after doing it couple times, but others might've found value in doing those assignments. They also had summary of each unit on a pdf format, which was really nice so that I could reference back to them when I needed it for working on projects. I was able to manage the course working full-time. Designlab provide you with time constraints on each assignment so that you're not spending forever doing one assignment. Just keep in mind that you're gonna be spending more time outside of just the coursework. You'll be needing to make edits to your assignments/projects to improve upon them, meet with mentor, research if you're not certain of a topic, etc. But it's all totally doable!
MENTOR: One of my favorite parts about DesignLab is having a mentor to guide you through the process. My mentor provided a lot of valuable feedback and insights. I was working on some personal UX side projects outside of the course and she was willing to provide feedback and guidance on that as well. One thing I did wish was that she would provide more constructive criticisms as I feel like I needed more of that, but she was still really resourceful. I think having the right mentor could make it or break it because they're the main interactive aspect of the course where you're getting real feedbacks from people in the industry. However, Designlab pointed out many times that they can change the mentor if you're not happy about it, I don't think anyone needs to worry about not finding the right mentor.
SLACK CHANNEL: Designlab has a Slack channel for all the students who were or are in UX Foundations course. I didn't really use it as much as I had hoped to, but I think that might depend on people's personality and how motivated they are to try interacting with others online. I wouldn't say that it's superrr active where people are talking all the time. I would usually turn to Slack channels if I had any specific questions related to the coursework.
DESIGNLAB'S SUPPORT: DesignLab has been very supportive throughout the entire process. I've gotten several emails from the support team just checking in on me to see how I was doing on the course. They are very friendly and approachable.
CONS: (I can't think of much but if I HAVE to come up with something)
- I wish slack channel was more active and there are some opportunities set from Designlab so that students can network. It would also be cool to be able to network with the alums who finished Designlab bootcamp and found a job.
- Your experience can vary depending on who you get for your mentor.
- I wish there was a general search feature for the course materials so that I don't have to dig through each lessons to find a specific topic that I'm wanting to reference upon.
- The best intro to UX!- 11/20/2020Amanda Wright • Graduate • Course: UX Academy Foundations • Campus: OnlineI originally signed up to take Design 101 so I can apply to UX Academy, but I was given the option to take their beta course UX Academy Foundations. I was nervous to take a new course, but it was the best decision I could have made. I learned so much and felt very confident about my skills when I started UX Academy.
- Design 101- 11/20/2020Rhea • Graduate • Campus: Online
Pros:
Interesting content, lots of optional tasks, and reading ( I recommended doing them to get the best out of the course)
Experienced mentors, 1:1 mentor sessions every week.
You are ready with a finished project at the end of the course
Cons:
A bit too much information to absorb within 4 weeks. Personally, would have liked another week at least.
Overall, a great course. I would highly recommend it to someone who wants to transition into UX or UI.
- Great experience!- 11/20/2020Ana • Graduate • Course: UX Academy Foundations • Campus: OnlineI joined foundations to be better prepared to take the UXA bootcamp.
PROS: The program is great! material is easy to follow and self-paced which was what I was looking for. Designlab's customer service is amazing! very friendly and very responsive. Having a mentor guide you is very helpful in the career developing process and decision-making.
CONS: most of the learning materials they offer are articles and readings. Not much of videos or interaction learning. Depending on your mentor, sessions can go very well if you have the right questions.
The overall program is great covering all the basics of design.
- Cohesive Overall Introduction to UX Design- 11/20/2020Florence Liu • Graduate • Course: UX Academy Foundations • Campus: OnlineIn this 8 week course through Designlab, I was able to receive a firm foundation in the principles of UX and UI design. Each week we covered specific topics that ranged from visual design, usability principles, Gestalt principles, color, typography, etc. Between lessons we would also have specific mini projects of design briefs to practice the principles we had learned. We had the opportunity to design for mobile, web, and even responsive web design. My favorite part of the course was the immediate sense of community we received through the Designlab slack channel where fellow students could support each other, share resources, and connect and network. There was also thoughtful and supportive 1-1 mentoring provided for each student, and my mentor was always very detail-oriented in his feedback and really challenged me to broaden my perspectives of what good user-centered design choices looked like. He was always encouraging and supportive of the work I was doing, yet never shied away from giving constructive criticism and great, responsive feedback when needed. Overall I enjoyed the course as it provided me a great fundamental understanding of UX Design that propelled my interest into continuing to learn about the field and give me the formal education I had always wanted as I transitioned from my background of self-taught graphic and visual design.
- Well rounded UX/UI Course that helps you gain the skills you need to transition to a full time role in the industry- 11/18/2020Srujana Puttreddy • Student • Course: UX Academy (Part-time) • Campus: OnlineUX Academy is a very well structured course that helps you gain the foundational skills you need to work in the UX/UI field.
I learned not only design skills, but also how to conduct research, and how to give and receive feedback ( which is critical to working on a design team). In addition, I learned how to iterate quickly, and learned how to justify my decision decisions ( important when collaborating with and managing stakeholders) and how to present my design process.
Having a dedicated mentor guiding you is one of the best parts of this course. I learned so much from my mentor and am very glad that he challenged me and made me a better designer.
In addition to this, they also have a very supportive community of students, former students, teachers, and mentors who you can reach out to for help. The community discussions and feedback keep you motivated and are excellent for networking. So by the time you graduate from the course, you already have your own network of people to help you find a design job.
