Designlab

I did a lot of research before signing up for a UX bootcamp and DesignLab won me over for the simple fact that they provide students with real mentors to help with the curriculum. I felt the exercises were meaningful, the curriculum schedule and workload was reasonable, and the staff was very prompt in their responses if an issue ever arose. The Slack community connecting you to other students was also a great resource. Career Services proved to be a very valuable additional resource even for someone who has been a profession for almost 10 years. I knock one star off when rating the curriculum only because sometimes links were broken and some information seemed a little out of date. And while the mentorship is what really did it for me, I noticed depending on who your mentor is, your experience with this bootcamp will vary drastically. I feel fortunate that my mentor was an expert in the field and helped give me additional materials and resources. Overall, DesignLab did exactly what they promised me and provided me with a good foundation and portfolio to enter into UX, which in return helped me land a full-time job 2 months later.  Read less

I took Designlab's UX Foundations course before jumping into the UXA and it was such a great idea! I had zero experience in the design world, and it really helped get me up to speed on the design tools and terminology. It was interactive and a lot of learning by doing (which is how I learn best). If you feel intimidated by Designlab's UXA then UX Foundations is where to start :) Read less

As 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!  Read less

Designlab 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. Read less

I 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. Read less

I 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. Read less

I 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.

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 I 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.  Read less

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.  Read less

I 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. Read less

In 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.  Read less

UX 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. Read less

I really enjoyed the UX Academy. I have learned a lot in a very practical way. I like the studying system that allowed me quickly to practise my learnings. A great help and support were also mentoring sessions and group crits. It gave me a chance to work and create with wonderful people from all around the world. Read less

There are many pros to this course, one of which is the mentorship along the way. Having someone in the field to speak to weekly helped me understand what I was getting myself into. The curriculum gets harder as you go, which is excellent. I think the only personal con was not hearing about the course earlier. I was always skeptical about these online courses, but after seeing first hand how much it benefited a friend, I had to try it. I would recommend this course to anyone interested in UX/UI design.   Read less

I was contemplating making a career switch for a long time and Designlab's UX Academy Foundations was the perfect way to get my feet wet at a very affordable price. There are so many bootcamps out there today but a lot of them don't offer any intro course before the full thing. 

I have no design background so it was really nice to have a structured curriculum that I could work on at my own pace while maintaining a job. Although a lot of the information could be found for free if you searched online, but it was nice to have guidance on what was important to learn. I thought some of the assignments were a little too repetitive or more tedious than constructive but overall I was able to complete a 10 hour design challenge by the end of the course.

My mentor was very accommodating and helpful in answering questions that I had. It was nice having someone I could rely.

This is a great course for someone who wants to see if a career in UX Design is for them. Obviously, this course alone will not be enough to make a career change but it's a great way to get started.

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It was a fantastic journey! I always inclined towards creativity my whole life but somehow I wasn't sure that I am actually capable of working with design elements. Thanks to the Designlab program, during a couple of months with weekly 1 on 1 sessions with my incredible mentor I've received a strong basic skills to continue in the UX Designlab Academy as a full time student. I continue to learn the subject and feel that my skills are growing every day. The Designlab is not only about hard skills, it's where you develop emotional intelligence along with the UX Design. Strongly recommend this course to anyone who's willing to give it a try but somehow isn't sure, just like I was at the beginning. Read less

I graduated Foundations a few months ago, and it becomes more and more clear over time just how valuable the course was for me. It's meant to be a prerequisite for Designlab's full UX Bootcamp (UX Academy, which I enrolled in immediately after completing Foundations), but I also think it's a great stand alone course for anyone looking to develop or level up their visual design skills. I think the most valuable part of Designlab's courses is their mentor support - every week you have an hour long call with a highly experienced designer who reviews your work for feedback, gives you advice, and answers any questions you have from the coursework to the industry in general, which I found invaluable. I also think Foundations definitely dives deeper into UI than a lot of other courses out there - I've been told many times since completing the course that my designs are impressive for my level of experience (which, before Foundations, was zero), and I definitely credit that to this course. If you're on the fence about this course or DL's UX Bootcamp, don't hesitate and go on and register - you won't regret it.  Read less