Designlab

Really good school, it was well structure, even better support and fun to learn, could not have been happier! What it sets them apart is the support from the mentors, I had the pleasure to have Peter as my mentor and he was so helpful and patience with... Read More me, I really learnt a lot from him.
Admission team was very helpful, specially talking about Emma.

I have learned a lot with this course, it is great that you can talk to a specialist mentor in the sector every week during the course to receive feedback. The temary is correct, although the design can improve, the examples of the exercises could be... Read More improved. For the rest everything is great!

I didn't expect to learn THIS MUCH in just 4 weeks! I had a great experience with my mentor and learned a ton of stuff. Now I feel way more confident to continue with my design journey. Bonus: I've completed a nice project which is ready to be included... Read More in my portfolio!

Pros
- mentors were experienced and friendly
- 4 capstone projects were helpful for building a good portfolio
- good blend of ux and ui
- material in the career services was helpful
Cons
- could have helped build the technical skills of ux design a bit more... Read More

I am so grateful to Designlab for the new career it helped launch, and the strong foundation it gave me. The best parts of the course for me were the mentor feedback and the Group Crits. My mentors really pushed me to produce my best work, and all made... Read More themselves readily available to help with any questions I had. The group crit sessions also pushed me outside my comfort zone, and were a great opportunity to not only learn from others and improve my projects, but also to build a strong camaraderie with other students going through the exact same transition. The Designlab support team was also so friendly and responsive, and were really encouraging if I ever had any questions or concerns. Most importantly I ended up landing a dream role, and I couldn't be more thankful to Designlab for giving me the tools to do so. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a rigorous, engaging, and supportive UX program.

As with any bootcamp, you really get out what you put in. From my perspective, Designlab did a great job of setting me up well. When my mentor had a family emergency and had to step back, DL provided a flawless transition to a new mentor and gave me an... Read More extra mentor session. Although the course went by quickly, the material was holistic yet relevant and worked well towards the final project. From my mentor I felt challenged as well as encouraged, and have a much better sense of the UX industry and possible avenues to check out based on my own strengths and interests.

Being a perfectionist meant I spent much more time than what they estimated on the work. If I didn't have extra time to devote to this course, it would have been difficult to prioritize my time and finish everything well. Highly recommend!

Within 8 months, I made a drastic career change from working in HR to becoming a full-time UX Designer for one of Houston's top design agencies that provides branding, strategy, web, print, AI, omni-channel, AR, VR, video, motion, SEM, SEO for enterprise... Read More clients. I had no design experience prior to becoming a Designlab student. So, my experience is just one of the many student success stories that are a testament to the effectiveness of their UX certification program.

Why it's effective (from my personal experience): more affordable than other UX bootcamps, responsive and helpful community specialists, fast-paced curriculum that motivates you to create your own portfolio website, required group critiques, robust slack channel, and career services. I highly recommend Alan Hurt as a mentor. He will structure the curriculum so that you are presenting your work during every mentor call, defending design decisions, and developing problem-solving and communications skills that will benefit you later during job interviews.

Also, due to the on-going COVID-19 situation, most companies that are hiring are conducting remote interviews. By going through UX Academy, I felt more adequately prepared for remote interviews, having had the experience of presenting my design work through remote group critiques and skype mentor calls for the past 7 months. So, as long as put your 100% into it and believe in your career transition - good things will definitely happen once you're a Designlab UXA alum!

I came from a completely different career background, which I found many people within my cohort within DesignLab and through design crits have done the same transition. My experience with DesignLab had it's definite positives but there are definitely... Read More areas for improvement. First off, if you're a person that knows for a fact you're unable to teach yourself UX Design, UX Academy does give a good foundation for being able to get a running start. I found that if you do commit to the full time track, you are investing a lot of time and effort (at least in my experience) which is completely understandable given that I was completely brand new to the field. I did find that I exceeded way over 40 hours a week, so something to keep in mind when considering the time commitment. Secondly, your mentor can make or break your experience. My mentor was great in a sense that they were friendly and fun to talk with, but I did not find them helpful nor did I feel confident in my work as a whole. I honestly wish I had switched over to a new mentor who was 1. in the same time zone as me; 2. was able to provide more helpful feedback. Third, networking is key! I found that reaching out to people on social media, LinkedIn, Meetup groups were so key in helping you navigating through this career transition. This is where I felt more connected to the design world - something I wish was more emphasized within the Career Services.

Overall UXAcademy was a good experience, but it does require you to put in a lot of work! If you're unsure about your mentor and just don't feel like you don't connect, I would highly recommend requesting for someone else.

Designlab was great in helping me transition from my fashion career into UX. Their mentors are super helpful and have really great insight. They make you also feel like you're part of a community and the courses are challenging but also very engaging.... Read More I feel like with Designlab also I was able to explore a lot of different avenues of design that helped give me a very extensive portfolio.

Pros: The curriculum and my mentor have been excellent. I love how Designlab starts off with readings and then a self-quiz followed by short assignments and projects that allow you to practice what you've read. My mentor and I worked well together in... Read More discussing each assignment/project to understand the design process. In addition, we discussed what is relevant in the field these days and how to improve my design skills . This process has really helped me gain experience with design. The price of the courses are affordable compared to the other programs out there. Plus having it 100% online worked for me.

Cons: the only one I can think of (which have been mentioned by others in the past) is the estimated time for completion for each lesson, assignment or project is longer than what it says.