Designlab

I remember when I just stumbled upon Design Lab, not thinking it would be that good, or similar to other online classes. But for some reason I had a feeling I should look into this. After doing some research I decided to try out the Design 101 class of which I am so glad I did! I would highly recommend it!! The platform is easy to understand, the readings are great, and the mentors are wonderful! I have learned a lot and I am thinking about taking more classes from them in the future. 

I would like to begin by saying that the cost of this course is phenomenal vis a vis to what I've learned and covered in just four weeks. Designlab takes you by the hand from the early definition of UX strategy and research, how to do proper UX research, methodologies, concepts, all up to the landing page of your potential project. I couldn't thank the team that put this together enough. The course was really well thought out, very organized, and systematic with never a dull moment! My mentor was excellent. Karin Schmidlin taught me in such a short span of time how to ask the proper questions and seek the proper research method. She also helped me in creating my UX portfolio, which I am very grateful for that. If I were to suggest something, it would be that Designlab students get the opportunity to collaborate on projects and maybe work together on assignments, surveys, or general questions and opinions. I really have no negative comments for this course, I should say that maybe I was a bit skeptical at first given the great price vs other courses out there. But Designlab, you outdid yourself! Now I am ready to soar in the UX industry in NYC. Thank you, DL :-)   

The design mentorship and hands on curriculum at Designlab are fantastic.  I've never found such a perfectly customized way to work with powerhouse designers from a variety of industries than at Designlab.  The design connections, terminology, and knowledge gained from the curriculum itself are huge steps forward in my own design career.

I took this course because I was curious about a closer look at UX design. After having completed the course I can honestly say that it was a great introduction to the research methods that are employed in the beginning processes of UX. The course workflow is set up in a way that is easy to follow and easy to track–its very clear where you're at regarding course progress.

The lectures are intuitive and set up in a way that lets you take on little bits of information at a time, often times with additional resources and sites included at the end of each so you can study more on each subject in your own time. I really enjoyed the projects that were provided as well. It was nice to be able to put the lectures to use through hands-on assignments that gave you a good idea of what kind of work is involved.

One of the most helpful parts of the course were the 1-on-1 mentor sessions that were held each week. I learned so much through being able to talk directly to my mentor about what I learned, and in turn he was able to give me real world examples of how the things I was learning were applied on the job, showed me examples of his work, and also gave me additional resources to study more on subjects. Because of my mentor I was also able to learn more and push farther into the assignments due to his detailed feedback and critiques on the key areas of each assignment.

I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to gain a good understanding of what is involved in the initial stages of UX design.

Pros:

• The best part of this course was the mentor. He was very supportive and encouraging.
• Reading books and going to conferences is great, but actually doing the work, and creating UX artifacts is a far better way to learn. 
• The course is very inexpensive, especially when you consider the four hours of one-on-one time you get with your mentor. 

Cons:

• Don't fall behind in your coursework. Do a little each day (or follow the suggested time line they provide), and you'll do fine!

This program is great for people who are looking to switch careers and may not be able to afford going back to get another degree in design, or even students just starting out who want to see if they'd be interested in a career in design.    I haven't found any other program like DesignLab that offers courses in visual design - and they do an excellent job!   The course contained great articles and videos to help us learn typography, layout, color theory, etc.   My favorite parts of the course are that you work on several projects, receive feedback from your mentor and peers, and you receive a certificate that displays all of your projects to keep with you as a portfolio.  The DesignLab team is very friendly and helpful!  Excellent course - I highly recommend it!  I hope to take more courses through DesignLab soon!

This was my first mentor-driven online learning class. Man, I lucked out. The coursework is direct, clear and gives an awesome framework for approaching UX research. The key is they don't overwhelm with every strategy known to man. They tell you the core of what you need to know. Great basic framework and real projects to solidify the content. The mentor was great. This was critical to my learning as I got stuck on a couple of concepts that the mentor cleared up. For $299 this is well well worth it, especially if you feel overwhelmed with info and asking yourself what the most important stuff is to know in this field.  

This course was seriously worth it. Although it is a bit condensed, perhaps a little too condensed, it delivers nonetheless. I learned about the process of UX, and then was able to apply the new knowledge to techniques for projects throughout the course. In the end, I had new skillsets, a deeper understanding of UX and the process, and really wonderful advice from my mentor. I am definately signing up for more courses.

 I was looking for a course that could provide some credibility of Design skills and practical tools that I could have confidence applying in the real world. I feel Designlab's course delivers on my goals. I like the fact it is aligned to and references the Standford D-school principles and practices. It is also an extremely accessible course. Having everything on-line helps tremendously, as does the layout and functionality of its site, and the punchy, to the point nature of its lectures. The coup de grace though is probably the way they make you put it in to practice, so that all the learnings make sense. The mentor approach means you have someone to turn to to make sense of things. I found they can also point out aspects you'd never of thought of and would have completely missed without their expertise to show you. Mine did that quickly and succinctly. No overanalysing or missing the point.

I am looking to switch careers from technical project manager at a software company to being a web/UX designer. I had looked at doing bootcamps but didn't have the time or money for most of them. DesignLab's course was perfect. The feedback my mentor had for me was great because he's currently working in the field and he wasn't shy about always pushing me to do better. I loved the projects and all the resources provided as well!

I want to be able to freelance at some point in my career and, while I know how to manage a server and develop everything through the JavaScript and HTML on the front end of the website, it is difficult to get clients when they have to come to you with a design in hand. Most of my attempts at web design in particular had gone poorly in the past, but, through the curriculum and meetings with my mentor, I feel confident that I can actually work with a client to come up with a design now.

I was very impressed with Designlab's Interaction Design course in that in a short 4-week period, I came out of it feeling better equipped to develop a more proper process in my work prior to delivering high-fidelity mocks. The lecture material took wide-reaching topics and condensed them into easy-to-understand chunks each week. The accompanying activities for each of the course's units were engaging and relevant to the lecture material. The weekly scheduled chat sessions with my mentor proved to be very beneficial to get professional feedback on my course work. He was very patient and happy to provide help when needed. He always helped me to see my project from a different perspective and challenged me to think about problems that I would overlook. 

I think the mix of the mentoring sessions and the projects within the program makes this course a great deal.

I took this course to learn visual design principles like typography, color theory, alignment and spacing, etc. and I'm pleased with the end results. The mentorship helped me a lot to expand my understanding of all the topics in the course.

I had a great time doing the projects as it help me to generate confidence on my visual design skills.

I had a great experience with Designlab and have taken 2 courses so far, Design 101 and Branding & Identity Design. Their programs work great for me because the price is very affordable and the courses are flexible enough that they can easily fit into a fulltime work schedule.

Design 101 

I took Design 101 last year after working in web design since 2002. I felt like I had web development down well but when it came to the visual side of the web I was doing a lot of things wrong and wasn't sure how to fix it. Designlab taught me the foundations of design, the right way, and in a tool agnostic format. This was great because I already new how to use tools like Photoshop and Illustrator but had never learned basic things like visual heirachy, basic typography and color theory. Instead of teaching Photoshop tips and tricks it taught me to pay attention to all the little details that make up a great design.

Branding

I'm just finishing this course and it's been great as well. There's so much more to a "brand" than just a logo and from the very beginning this course helps you think about and identify business goals, who the brand is targeting and what value it provides to consumers. It's amazing how much easier the rest of the project becomes when you take the time to identify core objectives of the brand in the beginning and let those guide the rest of the design process. Once again, I love that Designlab's curriculum focuses on the process because once you learn the right process it's so much easier to use whatever tools you choose.

Mentors

Working with the mentors in each course has been great because they can provide insights to guide you when you're stuck and challenge you to do your best work. Their also great resource to answer questions about working as a designer, especially if you don't live in an area surrounding by lots of designers you could reach out to at meetups and events.

Overall I had a great experience and would definitely recommend Designlab to working professionals looking for a career change or anyone looking to supplement their skills with some specialized knowledge in UX, Branding or Typography.

I loved this course and will definitely check out other courses by DesignLab! The materials were amazing (I seriously have dozens of links on my bookmarks now under headings, such as typography, great design examples, colors, wireframing etc.) and I can't wait to start using them when doing my next design project. The mentor sessions were super helpful - he gave me constructive feedback on my designs and oftentimes he gave me excellent ideas that helped me improve my design SO much. Thanks, DesignLab!