Designlab

Design 101 was great especially if you're a beginner! Here are my pros and cons on this class: Pros: - They had great articles and games to keep the class interesting - Well organized and easy to navigate - The help I received when I had questions on the class was absolutely perfect! - Lots of projects to work on throughout the month Cons: - There were bugs here and there throughout the course. Images were broken, links didn't work, etc. I feel like they should have someone go through the course to make sure these links work! - My mentor was good but I felt like she didn't lead the discussion and give me good critique. It was like pulling teeth to get some good feedback. Also, I didn't feel like I got to know my mentor because we just jumped into talking about my work even from day one. - The articles they had through the course were all pulled from online. It would be nice to see some original written articles.

February 2018 I participated in the UX Research course and It was an amazing experience. At my company we are working with Scrum for years, but I was always missing something. This course gave me the context in which human friendly products and product-features are "born". The course materials and the interaction with my mentor helped me structure the product design process and become more efficient at my job. Now I understand the importance of involving the users in the product development and what is even more important: now I know how and when to involve the users in this process. 
For me it is clear that having a good user experience is not something that can eventually be added in the product, if there are enough resources for that. A good user experience starts with a research and it is essential for the products, which want to have a future.

Pros: 

- Friendly mentors

- Global and remote

- Slack community where students can network with each other

- Work at your own time, 20 hrs/week or 40 hrs/week

- Group crits with other students where you get to do show and tell once every week through Google Hangout

- Assignment submissions online where mentor can give feedback (although it's also public to other students)

- 3 portfolio pieces to complete under the guidance of a mentor

- Can change mentor if doesn't work out

- Design perks which include discounts for selected design tools like Sketch, Flinto, etc.

- 6 months guaranteed a job or a refund (only applicable under certain conditions)

 

Cons: 

- No real clients to work with on portfolio pieces

- Slides, videos, and articles based on linked sources for most lessons (some lengthy reading)

- Lack of job assistance because they will still require students to look for jobs on their own after graduation

 

I have no working background in design or tech, nor have connections who can offer my a role in the Bay Area. I was in the process of transitioning into the tech field after quitting my last office job. As a rookie who doesn't have exposure working with a team, I think it's difficult to land a role in the Bay Area unless I have extensive experience in graphic design, research, marketing, etc. In the end I've went through about 7 months until I was contacted through Angel List for an internship. What elevated my chances was pushing myself to improve my portfolio over the months.

If anything, I think the bootcamp would be much better if they can pair students up with real clients to work on projects. That way, students who struggle with networking or does not have relevant work experience can at least list these real client projects on their resume.

 

TL;DR

In the end, I think this bootcamp is great for those who want a certificate or have some exposure in design. Although it's not something students should totally rely on to get a job. If you're unmotivated or needed guidance because you have no idea on how to start, then bootcamp might be good for you.

In all honesty, it really depends on how much much effort you're willing to put into this. As long as you're motivated to succeed, you can find all the sources you need FREE online. Build your portfolio, ask some friends or coworkers to look it over for you, and go to meetups to network. 

I took the UX Research and Strategy short course which was excellent. The price was good and my mentor was a great resource. Based on this, I enrolled in UX Academy and the experience couldn't have been more different. It was like two different schools.

I've worked in Graphic Design for years, so wasn't sure if the bootcamp was for me. I scheduled a phone call with a Student Advisor. When we spoke he was running late from his last call that went long and had to rush off quickly to make his next call on time. So the difference was being up through my allotted time. Given that I was about to spend thousands of dollars and commit hundreds of hours to this course, barely getting 20 minutes with an advisor should have been a red flag.

I explained that I wasn't sure what I wanted my next career move to be. I work with my own clients and want to offer more services to them, but I also like the idea of working with a design team, and that I was curious about how the career coaching worked for people with design experience. I was told that no matter what stage you're at in your career, the career coaches work with you to find you a suitable role. I could get this much from their landing page, what I was asking for was specifics but I never got them.

Given my initial positive experience I trusted them (another red flag) and enrolled anyway. Almost immediately I regretted it. Buried in the Student Agreement it states that you must apply for a minimum of 5 jobs a week and this includes internships. This seems like important information the advisor could have mentioned. Or information that they could state somewhere on their site. Surely getting a surprise while reading the fine print is the type of user experience we all try to avoid no? I signed up anyway, ignoring yet another red flag, knowing I could get my money back if it wasn't right. I sent off an email for further clarification.

A few days went by and no reply. The course started and I sent off another email. Still no reply. I sent a third. No reply. I sent and a fourth and a fifth email, this time via their website contact form. Still no reply. At this point it was 7 days later, I'd finished the first 40+ hour week, and still hadn't received a reply. Now I was starting to think I'd been scammed.

I DM'd the student liaison on Slack, who told me she would reach out on my behalf (kudos to her for being responsive, while being down with the flu no less, because she was the only one who was). A couple more days passed – 9 days after my initial email – before I finally received a reply from DesignLab asking to arrange another Student Advisor call. They also told me how student focused they are (c'mon, seriously?!). 

If it weren't so unnerving handing over thousands of dollars only to have them go dark on me, it would be funny that a company that teaches user experience and empathy could have so little of it. To my huge relief, they processed my refund promptly, but I'd warn potential students to be cautious.

A few final thoughts.

The curriculum is fine. They rely heavily on what is already out there for free though.

If you're new to the industry, blasting your resume to a quote of job postings per week makes sense (we all did when starting out). If you're already in the industry, I can't see the benefit to this approach unless you don't care where you're going.

Make sure you get a good mentor. My first one was excellent. My second one though – I have to qualify this next point with the fact that I withdrew form the course before meeting with him 1-on-1 so am basing this on our written communication only – was very much about his style of teaching, his schedule, and what worked for him. I felt like I didn't factor in to it at all. Had things panned out differently and I'd continued with the program, I'd definitely have asked to change mentors.

So their short course was great. UX Academy was a disaster. And I still have no clue how their career coaching actually works.

I had a great experience with Design101 and Design Lab. So much so that I will be continuing with their UX Academy. I am pretty much brand new to the world of design and tech so it was important that I take this introductory course to learn the basics and now I feel well set up to begin UX Academy. The mentorship piece of Design Lab courses is key. I had an awesome mentor who helped to set me up for success and gave me a lot of feedback and insight to help me grow. I would definitely recommend the program to friends who are interested in UX/UI Design.

I joined UX Academy as a Graphic designer hoping to learn UX/UI design. And UX Academy delivered more than I expected!

The curriculum - Well rounded. They covered all stages of the UX design process from User Research and Strategy to Visual Design. The course was structured well, so as to not be overwhelming. Pockets of theory were paired with practical exercises that helped me understand and remember what I'd learnt.

Mentorship - One of the best parts of UX Academy was being paired with a mentor – a veteran UX designer who knew the ins and outs of the UX design industry. He was an indispensable source of guidance, advice and support (especially for a UX newcomer like me)

Job Search - Rounding out the course was the 'Portfolio and Job Search' phase. Designlab has created an excellent framework of short exercises and activities for this. They helped me get through the daunting phase of making a portfolio, practicing for interviews and learning to present my work. It definitely helped me get where I am today. :)

DesignLab UX Academy is a great start to changing your career! I had very little experience going into the program, and was doing a complete career change. The mentorship aspect, and weekly group crits really made the online program feel like a school you attend in person, with a community of design support. The capstone projects could be demanding at times, with such tight deadlines, so I would have liked more time to make these portfolio pieces better,  but I was able to clean these up after the program ended. The Academy goes through the full spectrum of UX/UI, but I would have liked a few more courses/focus on UI/visual design mainly because I  did not have any graphic design background, and the students that do seem to be a step ahead (I think they may have added more UI courses since I finished). Yet, I learned A LOT from DesignLab, probably just as much, if not more, as other more expensive in-person schools. I landed an internship after the program ended, then a freelance design gig, and shortly after that a full-time position in UX/UI. I'm thrilled to have a new career I love, and have DesignLab UX Academy to thank for that. 

I had a very positive experience with Designlab's UX Academy. I was switching careers into UX design after a career break, and went from starting UX Academy to having a full time job in less than 6 months. It was helpful to have all coursework and lessons lined up for me (versus trying to figure it out on my own by sorting through tons of good and bad resources on the web). I felt it was a good balance of traditional lectures/readings with hands-on projects. My two favorite parts were the group crits and the mentorship. The group crits were great because I could create relationships with other people out in the world who were going through the same challenges. It made me feel like I wasn't alone in this big, daunting process. Finally, the best part: mentorship. At the end of the day, I feel that the mentors were most worth the money you spend on UXA. Both my UXA and Career Phase mentors were incredibly helpful...I can't say enough amazing things about them. I would 100% recommend UX Academy. It is a lot of work and requires commitment, and everyones experience and outcomes will be slighrly different since everyone enters woth different levels of experience. But if you follow the timeline, leverage the expertise of your mentors, and trust the process, you will definitely be able to reach new design and career goals you've set for yourself.

Long story short: I embarked on my UX Academy journey nearly a year ago in full-time track, graduated on mid-February, started my first ever UX designer job in April, and now I'm already at my second designer job. 

If you're looking for a place to kickstart your career in UX design, I can say that this course delivers. UX Academy gives you the tools, the platform and the expertise to help you change your career to UX design. But you need to take the charge and really commit. Otherwise you won't get the full advantage. I really enjoyed the curriculum, got professional feedback from my mentor and my peers. The community is awesome and I learned the most from my fellows there. 

Like I said, I'm already at my second work place and not even year has passed from my time at UX Academy. The first job I got was a traineeship, and after that I got a better offer from another company, where I work now. I feel that UX Academy gave me a great starting point and kick-off for my UX designer career. Recommended 100%.