Designlab

Really enjoyed my UX Foundations course from Designlab. It took me a bit of time to get used to the course delivery cause I didn't realize that even if the schedule is flexible and I can learn on my own time, there are still a lot of projects/deliverables to submit, so I ended up setting my own "class hours" so I'm not all over the place. The course itself is easy to understand and it has a lot of projects that will really give you a good grasp of what to expect in the UI industry. It's a Foundations course and I believe it lives up to that expectation-- it gives you the Foundations you need to build on. The mentorship aspect is okay, especially since you're doing all the coursework by yourself, so it's nice to be able to talk to someone once in a while. It's different though compared to having a teacher cause if you have questions while studying, you have to list it down and wait until your mentor session. Or sometimes, a concept is important but you end up just skimming it while you read, whereas having a teacher would have really emphasized/expounded on that area. For the content, I really like that Designlab make their own videos/tutorials so I don't have to go look for tutorials especially with using the software (Figma/Sketch). Overall, it's a good foundations program and the tuition commitment is also not too daunting. Like, if you find out that UI/UX is not for you, then you're not throwing away tens of thousands. It gives you allowance to not have to commit yet to the more extensive; more expensive UX Academy (which you take after this Foundations course). Read less

Very thorough, informative and challenging course. I've learned a lot and have come a long way and I really had a great experience. The staff and mentor's are great as well. Super supportive. Would definitely recommend this course. You definitely want to plan your time around this coarse though, working and doing it can be done, but depending on your ours it can be rough. I would still recommend you take it either way! Read less

I took Designlab's UX Academy Foundations course as a prep program for their full fledged UX Academy course. I was only expecting to learn some foundational basics to UX/UI design what I did not expect to receive from the program made the experience that much greater. Each student received weekly 1-on-1 mentor support, free access to the paid version of design tools as perks, online interviews with designers already in the industry with Q&A sessions, and plentiful of access to links outside of the program as external FYI (podcasts, books, blogs, videos, and others). What a joy it has been to be part of the Designlab curriculum. I would recommend this course for anyone interested in learning more about design without having to commit to the full fledged bootcamp. Read less

UX Academy Foundations was an incredibly informative and helpful course. I'm a full-time Mom, I completed the course part-time and this course taught me so much. I have a bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration and currently, I'm working to get into UX Design. This course was the perfect learning experience for me. The overall structure of the course consisted of a few reading assignments,  tutorials for either Sketch of Figma (I choose Figma), replication assignments (This was duplicating a current design that had good principles), and then a design project of your own. Each week had a specific focus, so whether it was grids and layout, hierarchy, typography, color theory, etc. each lesson built upon the last one. By the end of the course, I had produced my own designs that I was so proud of! There were also a ton of resources provided throughout the course to assist with finding stock photography, icons, and UI Pattern Libraries, and so much more. I loved also that I had a 1:1 weekly meeting with a mentor who was incredibly skilled and currently a working professional. She was awesome and taught me a lot! I'd highly recommend this course for anyone wanting to improve their Visual Design understanding and implementation, and anyone looking to move into UX Design. Read less

Designlab is an excellent starting off point to launch a career in UX design! Starting with no experience in UX, I was amazed at how much knowledge I gained, including three detailed portfolio pieces. Throughout my time, the designlab staff has been very understanding, supportive, and accomodating. In addition, you get access to the slack channel even after graduation. It's a great location to find resources and connect with other designers.
On the downside, it's a self-taught course. It's necessary to have the motivation and dedication to get through the entirety of the course.  However, the weekly group crit is a great way to meet other students and connect with excellent facilitators! The course does not go in-depth in some areas of UX. For this, I recommend supplementary courses like google UX. When it comes to mentors, they are a hit or miss. They are generally all great UX designers but not necessarily great mentors. I recommend reaching outside of designlab and connecting with other UX designers or UX mentors on platforms like adplist. Career service is what you make of it and will not guarantee you a job. So again, it's essential to connect with people outside of designlab for advice and networking. 
Overall, designlab was a great starting off point. It will prepare you for your first UX design role, and  I recommend the academy to anyone interested in starting a career in UX design.  Read less

I was a complete novice before starting this program, and have learned so much over the course of the 2-ish months that I took to complete it. It is a very comprehensive course for the amount that you pay, and it is a really nice feature that the amount is discounted should you continue on to Designlab’s UX academy course. 
My mentor was very helpful and gave me a lot of great constructive feedback throughout the course. You have the opportunity to connect with and share your designs with other students in the course on Slack and in open critiques. It is an online course, so it provides the flexibility to complete assignments whenever you’d like, but the downside is that it’s not incredibly immersive if that is what you are looking for.
My favorite thing about the DesignLab course is that it allowed me to express myself in a way that I felt like I could not for the longest time! It was so refreshing to learn about a new tool/skill (the iterative design process and using Figma) and then getting a chance to tackle projects that simulate what you might find as a real world designer.
I highly recommend Designlab!! Read less

I had such an amazing experience in UX foundations at Designlab. Not only was I paired with an awesome mentor who helped develop my design skills from scratch, but also the projects and curriculum were well crafted. Overall, I learned a lot and I am excited to start UX academy at the end of this month.  Read less

I really enjoyed the UX Foundations course with Designlab. It was a great way to test drive the Designlab experience and get a good basis for UI design. I had zero experience in design so I felt this was a really beneficial course to get me on an even playing field with my future peers. My mentor was awesome. She really taught me to how to look at a design and pay attention to the fine details to create more quality work. You have 8 weeks to do the course, but what I really loved was that I could do it at my own pace. If I had more free time, I could advance onward. The tuition for this course can be used towards the UX Academy upon acceptance if you wish to continue.  Read less

Before taking this course through Designlab, I made sure to research dozens of UX/UI online courses to make sure I was choosing wisely. I was most impressed with their extremely thorough curriculum , peer reviews, and mentorship throughout the course with a skilled professional from the UX industry. I seriously couldn't find those perks for the price in which I paid anywhere else. I genuinely became more skilled in such a short amount of time. I am extremely grateful that I chose Designlab as my education of choice.  Read less

discrimination
I'm actually quite upset with how I've been treated throughout this program.

I had some troubles with the mentor no-showing (3 times between my 2 mentors) and some punctuality issues. And on top of that, the fact that I was pressed into doing all my deliverables within a 2 week timeframe since the mentor didn’t have time in August to accommodate a 1 call/week schedule. Which I think, was unfair for Designlab to arrange me with a mentor that couldn’t provide enough time to properly teach a student, especially when I worked through the first 2 weeks of the course without feedback on my deliverables from my first mentor, and no calls (since he no-showed).

The main argument I’m trying to make however, is the difference in treatment that I’ve receivedafter making these issues known to Designlab. A friend of mine, who I recommended into Design101 with me, also experienced 2 no-shows from her mentors, to which Designlab promptly changed out her mentor, apologized, and offered a number of things to better her experience – information on UI design challenges, links to scholarship applications, $200 discount from enrolling in UX Academy, among others. Meanwhile, I was basically told that if I didn’t want to continue in UX Academy, a program I was really looking forward to, I could just choose to leave.

I simply want to understand why students with similarly bad experiences are treated differently. Is it because I didn’t leave more negative feedback every chance I got? Because after all of this, even though I was looking forward to the Academy, it isn’t worth putting up with such disparity in treatment if I’m constantly given the short straw.

Also, another friend of mine finished the course on time, she couldn't get into the UX Academy, and if she wanted to get in, she had to take another course while her friend got a mail saying that if she wants to attend UX Academy, she has to take another course, and if she does, she will get a discount. Read less

Pros:
-readings are quick and informative, introducing the material while providing resources for (optional) further readings
-assignments allowed me to apply what I have learned from the guides and readings
-weekly 1-on-1 mentor sessions really helped me figure out the areas I needed help (in comparison to most Udemy courses)
-lifetime access to the Slack community!

Cons:
-not much of a con, but Foundations' material covers a more "general" aspect of design rather than specifically UX, so certain assignments may feel more like web design / visual design thing rather than UX
-unable to pause or ask for a short extension for your cohort (in case something changes in your or your mentor's schedule that could potentially make it difficult for you to finish the course in 4-8 weeks) Read less

The Foundations course through DesignLab was the perfect introduction to UX/UI design. It teaches you the fundamentals and all the basics you need to know to help you grow your UX knowledge. Plus, you get one on one mentor sessions which is unbeatable. 10/10 would recommend Read less

I honestly cannot recommend Designlab enough! Under the wings of my mentor and group critique facilitator, as well as my career services mentor and their career coach, I successfully transitioned from marketing to UX. I learned so much from all of them while gaining a sense of confidence in my design ability. Thanks to the guidance provided by my mentor Alan Hurt Jr. I learned fundamentals of UX, how to properly articulate my design decisions, and overall was prepared for an entry-level position in the field. 

What I didn't anticipate to gain from the program, however, was lifelong friends with members of my cohort and a network of supportive alumni. Every person I've met through Designlab are super kind and willing to help one another out. As a fully online bootcamp, this ended up being invaluable to my overall experience and ended up being the reason I landed my first UX role.

Overall, I highly recommend this bootcamp... Even though I admittedly already have multiple times...! It's great for people who have the strong desire to switch careers but also would like the support of others along the way. Read less

I completed Designlab's 8 week UX Foundations course and found it extremely beneficial. I have no technical design background, so I found the course did a great job in giving background context, giving vocabulary necessary, providing tutorials with sketch/figma, and supporting me with my mentor, slack community, and checkin from Designlab admissions support along the way as well.  It's important to me that if the course is going to teach UX Design, that it should be extremely user-friendly itself- and Designlab definitely delivers here.  I have no hesitation in wanting to continue with them to UX Academy, and feel confident I will be able to gain the skills/knowledge necessary to transition my career, and also the guidance and support as well Read less

This program helped me immensely with my interest in UX/UI. I had absolutely no experience prior to this program, and now I love reading and learning about UX whenever I can. My mentor was fantastic and the program itself was super helpful in really understanding the basics of the UX field.  Read less

It was pretty organised but for a course tailored for total designers they tend to forget that.. the time allocated for tasks was too short and some of the tutorial were so brief, you had to go on YouTube and just learn anew.. which defeats the whole purpose of signing up with them. But other than that.. the course was okay.. I would recommend it to someone interested in UX.  Even though I believe we touched more on UI than UX, but I suppose it's because UI has more content? Idk.  Read less