Designlab Vs CareerFoundry : Who Has Better UX Design Program?

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Interested to learn UX design online? Be sure to check out this Designlab vs Careerfoundry review.

Introduction:

With an increase in the number of businesses going online and building their websites, the importance of UX or User Experience has increased exponentially. The user interface is an essential factor in determining the actions people take on websites and mobile applications.

It has resulted in an exponential rise in the demand for UX designers. UX designers who can creatively think and design are in high demand. If you are interested in UX design and want to make a career out of it, there isn’t a better time than now.

If you are looking for UX design, you would have come across Designlab’s UX Academy and CareerFoundry UX Design program. But, which one to choose? Confused? Don’t worry! This Designlab vs CareerFoundry review will help you understand both the platforms and choose one that suits you well.

In Designlab vs CareerFoundry review, we aim to provide you with a clear view of both the online design learning platforms by comparing their reviews, cost, curriculum, features, learning experience, and ease of use. We have also covered the pros and cons of both platforms. Let’s get started!

Related Posts: Ux Design Bootcamps

Overview: Designlab vs CareerFoundry

Designlab

Designlab is a San Francisco based company providing online design Bootcamp and other courses that aim to teach the fundamentals of design. Established in 2012, Designlab is known for its UX Academy Bootcamp. It is a 480 hours intense design learning course with 100+ hands-on exercises, 4 portfolio projects, weekly 1-on-1 mentor calls, group learning calls, and much more.

It also assures a job guarantee with career support and coaching designed to help you land a job. Designlab’s career support and coaching prepares you for interviews, polishes your portfolio, sharpens your networking skills, and streamlines your online presence.

CareerFoundry

CareerFoundry is a Berlin-based online Bootcamp providing tech education since 2013. It has a global student base. It provides main courses like UI and UX design, web development, and data analytics. Apart from main courses, it offers advanced courses like Voice UI design, UI for UX designers, and Frontend development for designers.

CareerFoundry provides dual mentorship, career support with a job guarantee, and many more features that we will discuss in detail.

Designlab’s UX Academy vs CareerFoundry UX Design program: Which one is the best?

Let us dive in and learn more about the UX design courses provided by both Designlab and CareerFoundry.

Ratings and Reviews: Designlab vs CareerFoundry

Designlab:

Designlab has an average rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 on various review platforms like Career Karma, Course Report, SwitchUp, etc. Students reviewing Designlab’s UX Academy praise it as a great platform to jumpstart a design career. They also state it as an intense program that requires dedication and practice.

• Positive reviews talk about great mentors, flexible schedules, accountability with mentors, and community support.
• Negative reviews talk about improving job hunting resources and processes.

CareerFoundry:

With an average rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 on various platforms like Career Karma, Course Report, etc., CareerFoundry is known for its easy enrolment process and friendly costs.

• Positive reviews talk about effective mentorship, flexible class schedule, and easy enrolment process.
• Negative reviews talk about improving job assistance and the tedious process of switching mentors (not all mentors are up to the mark).

Winner: TIE

Both Designlab and CareerFoundry have great reviews for different aspects of the design course like mentorship, flexible timing, community support, and learning experience.

Curriculum: Designlab vs CareerFoundry

Designlab:

Designlab curriculum is structured to assist both newbies and people with experience in design. For newbies or people learning design from scratch, Designlab UX Academy is divided into three parts. They are UX academy foundation, UX academy, and Career Services. People with experience in design have two parts- UX academy and career services.

UX academy foundation is an 8-week program with 10 hours per week structured to help you learn the most by being accountable to the mentor.

UX academy takes 15 weeks full-time and 28 weeks if part-time. In both cases, you are held accountable to the mentor by having weekly 1-on-1 calls, group crits, and much more.

Week 1- Design and communication Basics

Week 2- UX research

Week 3- Information Architecture

Week 4- Interaction Design

Week 5- User Interface Design

Week 6- Iteration and Implementation

Week 7 & 8- Personal Brand and portfolio setup

Week 9 to 14- 3 capstone projects

Week 15- UX academy graduation

After completing the UX design learning, you are paired with a career coach who helps in polishing your portfolio, building an online presence, networking, and cracking interviews.

The entire curriculum is rigorously structured, and you have to keep up with the pace to avoid missing deadlines. This makes it self-paced and yet having deadlines that keep you accountable.

CareerFoundry:

CareerFoundry has a structured and self-paced curriculum. The curriculum is structured such that you can complete it in 6 months if you can dedicate 35 to 40 hours a week or extend up to 10 months by dedicating 15-20 hours a week. However, you have a maximum time of 10 months to complete the course.

The curriculum is divided into three parts- Intro to UX design, UX immersion, and specialization.

Midway into the curriculum, you will be connected with a career coach and student advisor. They will help you in the job hunting process. The mentor, tutor, career specialist, and student advisor ensure you stay on track and complete the course in stipulated time.

Winner: Designlab

The curriculum of Designlab is well structured and stated when compared to that of CareerFoundry. Designlab ensures you have no surprises in the store and know when to expect what. It helps in easy navigation through the learning process.

Also Read: Designlab vs Springboard

Instructors: Designlab vs CareerFoundry

Designlab:

The mentors at Designlab are professional designers with more than 3 to 5 years of experience. They are handpicked through a rigorous induction process based on various criteria. You have weekly 1-on-1 video calls with mentors who are your design coach. They answer your questions, give feedback, and help in developing your skills.

Based on your availability, interests, time zones, and learning goals, Designlab matches you with your mentor. You can change the mentor if you are not satisfied. However, the reviews of UX Academy graduates state that the mentors are extremely friendly and cooperative. They share real-world experiences and help you solve industry-related problems.

CareerFoundry:

CareerFoundry follows a dual mentorship model, where you are paired with a mentor and a tutor. The mentor provides detailed feedback on your projects while the tutor is available to answer all your technical questions.

Apart from the mentor and tutor, you are also paired with a career specialist and student advisor. Career specialist assists you in the job hunting process, and the student advisor makes your learning experience smooth by answering your queries.

A lot of student reviews state that not all mentors are great at CareerFoundry. You may need to switch mentors to meet your best fit. And switching mentors and getting used to their teaching style is energy draining.

Winner: Designlab

Though both Designlab and CareerFoundry have great mentors, the reviews of mentors from Designlab are better than those of CareerFoundry. Students at CareerFoundry had to switch mentors before finding their best fit.

Pricing: Designlab vs CareerFoundry

Designlab:

Designlab UX academy foundation costs $500. Once a student completes foundation and wants to continue with the UX academy course, the foundation fee is redeemed which makes the foundation free of cost.

The price of UX academy with foundation ranges from $6249 to $7611 based on the payment method you choose.

• 6 monthly installments will cost you $1041/month. Total cost- $6649.
• Upfront payment will cost $6249 for the entire course.

Designlab also provides flexible long-term financing for US-based students through Climb credit that ranges from $177 to $194 per month based on interest rates.

CareerFoundry:

CareerFoundry UX design program will cost you $7900. You can make an upfront payment of $1400 and pay the remaining as installments of $650 for 10 months.

It provides a 5% discount if you pay the entire course fees upfront. One time price of the entire course is $7505.

Currently, CareerFoundry does not provide full scholarships or funds.

Winner: Designlab

Designlab’s UX Academy is cheaper and has better payment options when compared to CareerFoundry.

Advance Features: Designlab vs CareerFoundry

Designlab:

• UX academy foundations- It is an advanced feature provided by Designlab to newbies with no experience in design. It teaches the basics of design to students before moving to advanced levels.
• Weekly 1-on-1 calls with mentors- These calls help you gain insights from the mentors and understand real-world design requirements and problems.
• Group crits– They are scheduled group discussions with other design students where you get an opportunity to present your work and give and receive constructive feedback from fellow learners.
• Unlimited Slack access– Designlab provides you with unlimited Slack access to an active design community that helps in sharing and learning with fellow learners.

CareerFoundry:

• Dual mentorship model– You are paired with a mentor and tutor that helps you learn from two people instead of just one mentor.
• Student advisor- You are paired with a student advisor who smoothes your learning journey by answering your queries.
• Money-back guarantee– If you complete the entire course and meet the prerequisites yet do not land a job within 6 months, CareerFoundry refunds your tuition fees with no questions asked.
• Free short course– CareerFoundry offers a 6-day UX design short course that helps you understand the learning methodology before making a big commitment.

Winner: Designlab

Though both Designlab and CareerFoundry have great features, the community learning feature by Designlab wins.

Learning Experience and Ease Of Use: Designlab vs CareerFoundry

Designlab:

Designlab students have had a great learning experience with experienced and friendly mentors, a well-structured curriculum, and community learning.

Designlab’s custom coursework submission platform has also helped students gain constructive feedback on their work and improved their learning experience.

CareerFoundry:

CareerFoundry students have had a great learning experience with an organized learning platform and self-paced learning. The course structure made it easy for students to learn with effective time management.

Detailed feedback on work, excellent technical support, and choosing specialization on personal preference improved the learning experience of students at CareerFoundry.

Winner: TIE

Both the platforms are student-friendly and ensure maximum learning. Students have had a great learning experience with both platforms.

Certification And Career Prospects After Course: Designlab vs CareerFoundry

Designlab:

Designlab provides certification and career assistance. After the completion of your design course, you will be connected to a career coach who will give you career support and coaching for up to 24 weeks after graduation.

You will have 18 personal coaching sessions with the career coach. He/she will prepare you for interviews, add extra polish to your portfolio and help you land a job you desire.

Designlab provides job guarantee and has a track record to get students hired within 124 days of graduation.

CareerFoundry:

Midway into the course, CareerFoundry will connect you with your career specialist, who will help you in the job-hunting process. The career specialist understands your job requirements and skills and helps you find the right job.

CareerFoundry offers a money-back guarantee. If you complete the entire course and meet the prerequisites yet do not land a job within 6 months, it refunds your tuition fees with no questions asked.

Winner: CareerFoundry

With the money-back guarantee, if you do not get a job, CareerFoundry’s job guarantee wins.

Pros And Cons: Designlab vs CareerFoundry

Designlab:

Pros	Cons
Experienced and passionate mentors	Rigorous learning
Community learning with Group crits	Lengthy reading
Unlimited Slack access for community support	Career assistance can be improved
Lowest cost when compared to other design courses
Hands-on learning
Job guarantee
Well-structured curriculum

CareerFoundry:

Pros	Cons
Self-paced learning	Need to change mentors. Not all mentors are effective.
Easy enrolment process	Hard to stay on track without personal disciple and motivation
Part-time schedule helps in effectively managing job and learning
Project-based learning
Organized learning platform
Money-back guarantee if not hired

Final Conclusion: Designlab wins!

Both CareerFoundry and Designlab provide a structured curriculum, great learning experience, and job guarantee. However, Desinglab has an upper hand with community learning experience, a dedicated coursework submission platform, and great mentors. Designlab is also pocket-friendly when compared to all the other design courses available.

I hope this Designlab vs CareerFoundry review helped you understand and compare various aspects of both platforms. And decide which course is the best fit for you.