Designlab

I did quite some online courses related to UX but at Designlab I had the opportunity to actually work on assignments and iterate on them based on feedback provided by a mentor. The course is logically build up in 8 units and every unit starts with theory, a copy exercise where you do a deep dive in tool functionality but also learn how landing pages and apps are structured. After a reflection you move into a design exercise where you have more creative freedom. On average every week you have a chance to talk with your mentor for an hour, you can chat about your designs, ask questions and you receive extra tips and tricks. You are encouraged to time-box your iterations to get used to an agile way of working and build confidence sharing intermediate products. The emphasis is on UI but this helps you jumpstarting the UX Academy (you loose less time on learning a tool, UI definitions and UI design). Read less

I didn't even remotely expect this level of everything: starting from the mentor assigned to me who was the best possible match and guided me throughout the way with helpful tips and pieces of advice, to insane volumes of valuable information put together in nice chunks so that its easier to digest. Many thanks to everyone who participated in organizing this course for us!!! Read less

I wanted to improve my UI design skills and learn the basics. The course is nicely structured into logical blocks and all information is easy to read with additional resources provided if needed. I loved mentor sessions and also the creative projects. There were also many "reproduce a page" projects - I wasn't a big fan of them, but they made sense to understand the components etc. before you will build your own pages. I would recommend this course for everyone who wants to get the basics of (mostly UI) design and get better with the tools. Read less

I've enjoyed taking Designlab's UX Academy Foundations course. It's a great introduction to visual design for those who are thinking about career switching and want to dip their toe in the water before making a big splash with their bootcamp. There are many great things about this course, but I really appreciated the mentorship aspect as well as the curriculum. The online learning platform is easy to navigate and they make the modules (lessons, tutorials, etc.) informative yet fun at the same time. Read less

I enrolled in this course so I can learn how to start and handover a whole design from start to finish and with this course I got exactly what I wanted and more. If you are looking for a fun course and want to learn UI design by doing; definitely give this course a try!
You will be able to work with great mentors from all around the  world with experience from top companies, learn and have access to an amazing rich content and get hands on experience by working on multiple projects.  Read less

This course was, sadly, not worth the time and money. The way the class teaches concepts is too disconnected and in-depth for any real-world application. It's very confusing. Every assignment felt like busy work – we would spend hours on a microscopic part of the research process only to zoom out and learn that it wasn't actually feasible or important to do in actual product creation. Basically, this course was all academic, and not enough hands-on real-life work was taught. Next to nothing I learned here will be useful at my job and there definitely won't be anything going in my portfolio from this calss. 

Additionally, every mentor has their own rubric. There's no standardization on what is expected on assignments, it's luck of the draw on who you get. I looked at some other student examples, and surprise – they were all over the place. Several students obviously did the bare minimum and didn't even answer the prompts, but they got approved without any critiques. It made it incredibly difficult for me to know what was expected, and I have come away from the course ignorant of what I'm doing right or wrong. 

Overall, I wish I hadn't spent the money. I would have gotten more out of teaching myself with youtube videos and creating my own projects. Read less

After years of Umm-ing and Ahhh-ing, I finally decided to make the jump from engineering to UX design. My aim was to completely change careers. 

I looked at so many different Bootcamp styled courses, Career Foundry, General Assembly, Thinkful, DesignLab, Flatirons, etc., and decided on DL because to me there was no other course out there that was offering what DL was for the same value. I'm so glad I chose DL.

The UXA course was awesome, so in-depth and the first phase really prepares you for the second phase and building capstones and your portfolio. (also, a course that delivers you to the job market with 4 full capstone projects is something not many other courses can offer). I had a great experience with my mentor and support system. and never lacked support. The inclusion of group crit sessions was also a great help during the course but also during the job search phase, having that experience of collaboration with fellow designers is huge! 

I took the course part-time and completed it on time. Some students do struggle but this doesn't become an issue unless you're solely interested in the job guarantee. Which while is nice to have, is not the sole purpose for me doing the course, and is kind of hard to stick to anyway - also for me it was a sign that designlab is going to get you a job! They also have pauses which you can take if you get behind.

I completed my course and portfolio review in March but started my job hunt 3 months prior. I landed my first UX job in March and I am 100% convinced I couldn't have done it without DesignLab. I think the average hire time is something like 3-4 months, so if you're not in a rush this is even less than an issue. 

The mentors you have access to were incredible too. My mentor for the course phase was amazing. Supportive and instructive, with over a decade of experience. My careers service mentor was great too, even though we only had one session, the knowledge experience and contacts they can bring and give you aren't measurable, and you'll be hard-pressed to find them anywhere else.

I can't recommend DL enough. If you're think of a career in UX - Choose DesignLab.   Read less

Overall experience is pretty good. Designlab's curriculum for the foundation program is efficient and thorough. It is a good introduction program to UX design for those who want to learn what's UX design is like and learn more about using figma and sketch to design. They also have a pretty cool platform to show your progress and you get to see other students' work for inspirations. They follow up with you to see how things are going and if you're not on track. I would recommend this program to a friend and family.  Read less

I was enrolled in the newly launched UXA foundation course. The curriculum is very much structured and well-organized. We have 8 mentor sessions for the whole course which means there are 1-2 meetings every week depending on whether to complete within 4 or 8 weeks. I like the course materials a lot. Designlab really spent lots of efforts on researching and putting everything together. For the mentorship part, I feel that the mentor mainly focused on getting you through the program and move on to the UXA course instead of really teaching you the industry knowledge. Each time I asked about the UX related questions or real-world projects, I was given the answers like "you will learn it later in UXA course", "this course is only for UI study" or "it depends..." etc. I definitely learned new perspectives from the course materials but not much from the mentor. I'm not sure if it is just my case tho. So I would give 4/5 for the entire course. Read less

This course is mandatory to take if you are a beginner and plan on taking their UX Academy program. You are also introduced to a mentor that gives you feedback on your coursework and any questions you might have about the industry. I believe this alone is worth the price of the course. I've gained so much knowledge and improved my eye for design in the last 8 weeks and I'm hungry to learn even more! 

If there was one suggestion I can make, it would be to include videos to the curriculum. While a lot of it is visual, there can be a bit of reading at times. Nonetheless, the material is informative and helps you complete your projects.

If you're on the fence, I would definitely give this course a try! The community is very supportive throughout and you have lifetime access to the course after you finish it. Read less

I just finished the UX Foundations and I have to say that this course has exceeded my expectations. I have NO background in design and this is an online course but even with these  two obstacles I felt that I learned so much. Each chapter has a combination of readings and video tutorials, all arranged in an organized manner. The 1:1 calls with my mentor every week, I could ask questions that were specific to my situation or problems. It kept me on track and every mentorship call I left with pushing myself to do better. For those who are still on the bench  about going through Foundations or not, I recommend to take it. It's a perfect course in terms of time, money and to  see if UI/UX design is really for you.  I had an excellent experience and I am proud to continuing my journey as a designer in UX Academy.   Read less

Designlab gave me a great overview of UX/UI design principles and emphasized the importance of iteration and accessibility. One-on-one meetings with my mentor were especially helpful and gave me weekly direction and feedback on my projects. I got a great introduction to Figma and feel comfortable using it after 6 weeks of work. The self-paced approach allowed me to study around my part time job hours and home responsibilities. I'd highly recommend this course.  Read less

I'm transitioning careers so I was looking for a course that could introduce me to UI/UX. I found good reviews online about Designlab so I decided to start with the Foundations Course. I've now finished it and I'm very satisfied. The course content is well structured, with updated information and many challenges that definitely help to sharpen design skills. I'm particularly pleased with the 1:1 mentor support they offer, I had such a good experience with my mentor. I also enjoyed their how-to guides where they show how to use tools like Figma or Sketch. I'll recommend this course to anyone who wants to start their UI/UX journey.  Read less

I really enjoyed Foundations more than I expected to. I was pleasantly surprised with how well structured the course was, and the unit projects were both challenging and engaging. Since I'm a naturally anxious person, I went into each unit assignment with a lot of uncertainty for how I'd perform. However, having mentor support really helped guide me in the right direction. I'm glad I took Foundations, since now I know that I want to enroll in UX Academy and officially start my career change into UX Design. Read less

I just completed Designlab's UX Academy Foundations and had a very positive experience. The first few projects were easy to complete, good practice in using Sketch and Figma. Then they increase in difficulty as you move through the units. The one-on-one mentorship experience was totally above and beyond my expectations. The mentor I was paired with provided generous notes and comments as to how to improve my designs, took the time to send me additional resources and was super encouraging. What is also great, the $500 that's paid will be applied to the long-term UX academy program and the final project is submitted as part of the application process. Highly recommend this experience! It really made me feel more confident about entering the longer Designlab UX/UI design program.  Read less

I just finished 8 weeks of UX Academy foundation at designlab. I really like how the course has been designed. This course explains everything about  UI and is easy to understand for everyone. The course assignments are fun to work with and user friendly exercises. 
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Prior to signing up for Foundations, I did extensive research on the plenty of UX/UI courses out there. I found that Designlab checked all the boxes for me. As a beginner, I feel that the curriculum was just difficult enough to get you thinking in the right mindset without making things too frustrating to learn. On top of that, the Designlab community was super helpful throughout. From the admin, slack community, and my mentor I was never short of resources if anything got tough. Everyone is super supportive and encouraging which makes you want to learn more and do your best. Highly recommend this course if your thinking about getting into UX/UI.  Read less