Designlab

As I decided to change my carreer and to go into product design earlier this year, I was looking for some course to do such a thing. I went for designlab after trying their 7 days courses for Sketch and Figma. I tried other online course and looked through reviews but this school was the one I wanted to apply to.

In fact, I did the Design 101 course to get started in this new domain. It's my first online course and I was affraid of being alone with my computer, lessons and assesments to do. But no. Designlab is a nice course in which you're always surrounded by others students, mentors and staff. You can easily discuss about your assesments with someone else to avoid any issue. I do loved the fact a mentor helped me out during the whole course, I was able to share some and find new ressources thanks to the other students and the staff was allways here. To be honest, I had some issue with some documents and they helped me out in a few hours even if there's two oceans between us.

The best quality of this course is the fact you'll go in a binomial with your mentor. They'll be there to give you some advices, ways to work and feedbacks for all your assesment and you'll be able to discuss with them about their daily routine at work, share new ressources. The more you go into the course, the more they know you, your painpoints, your way to work and they can help you in the way you do need.

As I just finished this course, I'm already thinking of joining another one to keep improving my profile but, IMO, I got to stay with Designlab as they helped me out all the way down the coursework I had.

I recently completed UX Research & Strategy with DesignLabs and couldn't be more happy with the course!  I am newer into the User Research field and was looking for a course that would give me a solid foundation of what UX is all about and this course nailed it!  

It's a four-week course; each week includes reading material, sometimes videos and small assignments that help you practice what you just learned that week.  The information is very digestible -- and I love that they offer some additional resources at the end of each topic, that if you're interested in digging deeper, you can!  I also love that the assignments help you practice what you're learning.  

You're assigned a mentor - so each time you complete an assignment, your mentor reviews your work, comments on the submission and notes any additional work you might need to do in order to fully understand the concept.  I've found the communication via the DesignLabs platform and with my mentor to be extremely easy.  

Also, with your mentor, you'll have weekly 1-on-1 sessions!  My mentor, Erika, was amazing! We were able to talk about what we just learned in the online course, the assignment as well as anything else that I needed to understand more of.  She is really fantastic and was MORE than what I could have hoped for. 

This course gives a solid foundation of research methodologies as well as practical practice assignments that help you grasp the concepts more easily!

I took the UX Research & Strategy course through Designlab. Being in Front End Development, I'm exposed to a lot of UX talk but not quite the formal experience. I researched through various bootcamps out there. Some were just too expensive and time consuming for my budget. Some courses went over topics I already knew from work experience such as responsive design. The things I enjoy the most about DL are the mentorship and the projects. I'm currently enrolled in another program that's only reading, watching videos, and participating discussion forms. I feel like I don't quite get the feedback I'm expecting from doing that course work. With DL, I feel like it's more hands-on projects with a lot of great feedback from my mentor. My mentor was a perfect match for me with her energy and the experience she can provide to me. She not only gave me advice on how to approach the course but how I can approach the same situation in real life. I had such a great experience with her that I would definitely continue to keep in touch with her even after the course ends. I originally was debating about taking UX Academy but I think with my current work experience, taking Interaction Design would suffice in my UX training. 

It is a bit tough to complete the course in 4 weeks when life happens (hurricanes, family illnesses, etc.) but the course still allows you to finish even after the course ends. If you're looking for something super in-depth with some intense reading, this isn't the course for you. If you're doing the short courses, you can marry this with other reading intensive courses from other places, UX reading material from publishers like Rosenfeld Media, or other free online resources. To me, the value is from your interaction with the mentor as well as feedback from your peers on project work. 

I've already recommended DL to quite a few colleagues and friends.

UX Academy was a wonderful decision and I am so happy that I decided to take the leap. During my time at UXA, I was a student and became a student advocate to help guide and support new students. While a student and a student advocate, I worked with people from all different backgrounds and since finishing the program, we have all entered the UX design field. It does not matter what your experience is before UXA, if you follow the curriculum and give it your all, you will come out of the course as a UX Designer.  I went into the program wanting to learning UX Design and now I am a UX Designer.

I would absolutely recommend UX Academy. In addition to the thorough coursework, the UX Academy has incredibly talented, supportive, and knowledgable mentors that guide students through learning UX principles. At the UX Academy, you will learn to be a UX Designer and will learn so many additional skills that will apply to your future careers.

Before UX Academy, I was a freelance graphic designer/stay at home mom. I wanted to rejoin the workforce full time and pursue a career in UX design. I liked Designlab's UX academy because they had a full curriculum laid out for me, a mentor, and I would graduate with a professional-level portfolio. The experience was very positive and I had a great outcome. The coursework was engaging and my mentor was always helpful in his feedback. The career mentor encouraged me in my job search after graduation, which definitely helped me from getting "job search burnout." About three months after graduating from UX Academy, I landed a full time job as a UX designer at a great company. My transition into my new career would not have been as smooth without Designlab.

My decision to pursue a career change with the help of DesignLab's UX academy was one of the best decision I have made in my life!

I felt that the course properly prepared me to take on an entry-level position in UX. The project-based coursework is solid, the readings insightful, and the mentors are world-class designers who are deeply interested in your growth as a UX designer.

I would not be where I am today if not for the UX Academy!

To be honest, the entry-level UX market is saturated, but if you work hard and take time to understand the fundamentals and can clearly explain the why behind your designs, you will be in a very good spot!

My advice to prospective students who are evaluating UX bootcamps, , write down a list of things you expect to get from the course and hunt down alumni on LinkedIn and ask them about their experience in relation to the things you are hoping to get from your education.

I joined UX Academy full time after years working around building digital products but with no formal experience in design. After three months I was able to create a portfolio, develop my own apps and now I have a job as a UX/UI Designer in a big company in The Netherlands where I now live (I'm from Mexico).

I'd recommend this program to anybody looking to make a carreer change or become a UX Designer, you'll learn all the basics to research, wireframe, prototype and test a digital product, even the worflow itself! 

As a tip, choose the time format you are able to comit to, since the program can be very demanding and in order to get the best out of it, you need to spend time actually working on your designs and sharing feedback with your fellow students.