1. UX Academy Foundations

Designlab's UX Foundations is my first on many levels.  This is my first bootcamp course.  This is my first online course.  This is my first exposure to the UX industry.  Of course (pun intended) everybody's first experience is memorable, but not everybody's first experience is favorable.  The overall Designlab experience is very favorable from beginning to now.  I came away with a skillset in UX/UI that I feel confident in as I move forward.  The knowledge I gained from the course and my mentor experience was well worth my time and resources.  I'm very confident in recommending this course to anybody looking into a career in UX/UI. 

I took this part-time Foundations course to prep me for Designlab's full-time UX Academy course, since I had very little design experience or education. I LOVED it. The emphasis was definitely on visual design basics and fundamentals, which I found very helpful for my situation. I don't have experience in any other bootcamp so it's hard to know what to compare it to, but I was constantly bragging to my partner about how well organized the course is, how much I loved the structure, how interesting the content was, how much fun I had with the projects and how much they made sense, flow-wise. I really was impressed throughout the process and I can't wait to get started in the full-time course! I did a TON of research on various bootcamps leading up to this decision (y'all should see my spreadsheet...) and once I started with Designlab, I didn't look back.

The DesignLab Foundations course was much more thorough than I had anticipated.  I entered the course with no previous design experience and through projects, one on one mentorship and the online coursework, I completed with a solid working knowledge of Figma, the beginnings of a portfolio and enough knowledge to actually secure employment in the field should I want to.The online program coupled with the mentorship is the perfect match and the cohorts on Slack are another resource/community that is available as well.I spent more time each week than the program suggested.  I felt some weeks took about 15-20 hours versus the projected 10.  But I think that depends on each individuals learning curve.Amazing value, highly recommend.

Everything you need in a bootcamp from lectures, projects, to student community, and mentorship. 

I've been looking into a career switch and have always been interested in web design/graphics/etc. After checking a bunch of articles and videos I learned more about UX design and saw a few recommendations for Designlab's UX Academy. Since I didn't have a portfolio to submit with my application I took this foundation's course. I managed to completed the full time track (~20hr week) while working a full time job. The pace was great and my weekly meetings with my mentor were a huge help filling in the blanks. The only con at first was I wish they went into more details outside the design process. But they explain the reasoning at the end why they structured the course this way - and it makes sense. My experience in this course was awesome and as soon as I got the final projected approved I immediately applied for the full UX Academy.

Pros- solid introduction to using design tools such as Figma / Sketch (I used Figma)- forces you to learn foundations of UI design very quickly- weekly 1:1 mentorship with experts in the field (this is key and where I learned most of my Figma skills)- well structured course, each section has an allotted time commitment which makes it easy to plan out when you're going to complete courseworkCons- barely any focus on UX (however this makes sense given that it is a foundational course)- I heard from other students that their mentors were not as helpful learning how to use design tools such as Figma...I didn't experience this but makes me think experience can be greatly impacted based on the mentor you get

Overall it was a great experience! A great foundation course to let even beginners start their journey in UI design - there was a good mix and ratio of readings to exercises. 

DesignLab was a great choice for me as a beginner learning about UX & UI. It was an easy to follow curriculum with guided videos and clear directions. I chose DesignLab because it came recommended and because I have actual portfolio pieces that I can place in my portfolio.  

When I applied to DesignLab, I was completely unaware of how much of a great fit it was for me. It is a very supportive environment, with an emphasis on providing hands on experience and providing a solid foundation to the design world.  The faculty is very caring and understanding and has a genuine interest in students' success. There is a lot of potential to get involved in research, and a lot of students make use of those opportunities. You simply will not get an on-hand experience like you will at DesignLab anywhere else. 

I started Foundations knowing just a little bit of design, and had a pretty good handle on graphics programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. These helped in learning the core software for Foundations, and the UI/UX industry Figma. I would say that just learning Figma has helped my skill set for finding a career. Along with learning the software, I picked up a lot of good information on basic web and app design, color theory and typography. My mentor was very talented and had a critical eye.So that's the good - here's the not as good. I don't think I could have survived without at least some design background. One student posted that they had no design background as was really struggling to learn all of Figma in the time allotted. And I agree. Learning how to work with vector drawing, font management, color management, basic layout, grids and columns, photo clean-up -  it's a lot, especially if you're on the fast track 4 weeks course. If you don't have the background, expect to need twice as much time.I think the course content is good, but there's some Figma lessons that should have taught first, like plug-ins for type and icons.Overall, I'm coming out of this as a better designer, certainly not at a professional level. But, enough to move on the UX course, which was my goal.As for the price - Foundations is $500, which is counted towards the cost of the UX course. If you only take Foundations, I'd say it's worth it for the mentor feedback, peer reviews, and extensive content. Note that job support is not included in this part of the course. That comes with the UX program.

I started Designlab's UX Academy Foundations course in October. I attended part-time (10-15 hours a week) for 8 weeks. I did heavy research on programs; a Designlab mentor on the UX design subreddit ultimately tipped me over in favor of Designlab. I just completed the foundations course this week and wow, it was a very rewarding experience. I learned a lot in a short period of time and I walked away with many tangible skills, including using Figma and understanding UI design principles. My weekly meetings with my mentor was the true highlight - I got constructive feedback each week and an opportunity to ask questions to an expert. The Designlab projects are actually fun to work on and I looked forward to coming home from work each day and getting started on my classwork. My only regret was not having more time each week to dive in to the content more (e.g. read the recommended supplemental articles) - there's so much interesting stuff to learn. I am applying now for the Designlab full-time academy in hopes of changing my career to UX/UI design. I will be leaving a 12-year professional career in education, so making this transition is a big risk - yet I haven't doubted this decision once since starting with Designlab.

I found UX Academy Foundations when I was searching around for UX/UI bootcamps. I decided to go with it before signing up for a longer (and pricier!) option to get a feel for the work. My background is in tech and I worked full time while completing the course. Overall, it was a positive experience.Pros:- Mentorship - I got an awesome mentor and they really helped me succeed- Lessons are easy to follow and the coursework is fun- You will see yourself improve over time- Affordable, not a huge time commitment- Free Adobe XD subscription comes with the course! Cons:- Coursework almost exclusively deals with UI, very little UX - Can be difficult to juggle with full time work

Im glad i picked design lab for learning ux designing. They gave the best content. The people who work for design lab are it's assets. They go out of the way to help students to accommodate their needs. Super approachable and very understanding. The content itself is well organized, easy to follow with videos and lots of project work for practice. 

At first I was hesistant on taking this course, but I signed up because I wanted to learn about the foundational skills to UX/UI and see what it is like working alongside a community of peers and a mentor. I am so glad I took this course because my experience was so rewarding and I left feeling more prepared for UX Academy and the field in general. 

I'm really glad I took this course. As advertised, it got me up to speed on basic UI/design knowledge so that I'm ready for the UX design bootcamp. DesignLab's customer service is extremely responsive via email, which I really appreciate.

I love the whole experience, the fact I did all of the projects online while juggling with my full time job and it was a great experience. I was able to develop and improve new skills and knowledge about UI/UX designing.

I tried taking other short courses online to determine if the UX field was right for me, but they were boring. They included a lot of reading material, but no projects, so I was unable to get through them. This program had the perfect combination of lessons and projects to keep me engaged and make me feel like I was actually learning how to be a designer. I absolutely loved it and highly recommend for anyone looking to transition to UX. I had no design/tech experience at all prior to the course.Pros:- Engaging material- Lessons that set you up for projects- Mentor sessions- Self paced- Repetition in course structure- Links to additional optional resources- Free subscription to Figma & discounts on other design programs- Quick response to emailsCons:- Final project is locked until everything is approved (not really a con, unless you waited until the last minute & you need to finish by a deadline)

I really enjoyed Designlab's foundation course. As someone considering a career pivot, I really appreciated the option to learn more about UX design without fully investing into a full bootcamp. The course was really clear and the content easy to follow. I'm excited to do the Academy.

I was debating between designlab and careerfoundry. I ended up choosing to enroll on designlab's foundations class because that would be a great way to see if their teaching style matched me before committing to a full payment. The focus of the class is to get you up to speed with current UI design tools and design principles; with the idea of preparing you for when deeper lessons in the UX field are introduced in their Academy program. I wasn't expecting to have such a dedicated staff, easy to digest content, and all the resources provided. Being paired with a mentor and having weekly check ups was a fantastic push to stay on track. What impacted me the most is the scope of the projects, how much hands-on material there is, and the amount of content you can get to cover in so little time - without feeling overwhelming. The results you'll get out of the class is definitely based on how much effort you put into it. After taking this class I feel very confident about diving into the next subjects such as UX, research, and the job search in the near future!I would definitely recommend if you're considering a career switch but don't want to fully commit to a full boot camp!

I think this is a good course for anyone considering stepping into the UX/UI field.  For an online course, it will definitely be what you make of it but Designlab provides a good amount of resources to start off with.  For anyone who hasn't worked with design software before, it's a great intro to Figma & Sketch and helps familiarize you with the basic functions. While the course offers recommended time spent on each project, you can really choose to move at your own pace which I found really helpful for someone balancing a full time job while enrolled. The best part though was that even though it's just a foundations course, you are paired up with a mentor!