No design experience required

We'll help you get started with the industry's latest tools (Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD)

Next course begins

November 6th

Only 26 days left to enroll

Course duration

4-8 weeks

Flexible 10-20 hours a week

Average review 4.8/5

Course Report & SwitchUp

Why Career Switchers Choose Foundations

Ready to jumpstart your creativity? In this 4-8 week online course built for design beginners looking to switch careers, you'll experience:

$500 UX Academy Credit

Earn a $500 credit towards UX Academy if you decide to move on to our flagship course. What’s better than learning design? Learning design for free!

Learn the Design Process

From ideation to handoff, work through a flow similar to what you’d find in an actual studio or company. You’ll bring your ideas to life as either a fully fledged webpage or app by the end of the course.

8 Mentor Sessions

Foundations includes 8 hours of live 1-on-1 instruction from a vetted professional designer who will review your work and give you personalized feedback. Sessions are scheduled flexibly according to your availability.

Hands-On Projects Small Red & Purple Illustration

18 Hands-on Projects

Learn by doing and hone your skills through 18 hands-on projects. A fantastic way to kickstart your portfolio.

Certificate of Completion

Proudly display your new skills through a custom, shareable landing page certificate that showcases your project work.

Join a Community

Learn alongside a vibrant community of peers, and get support through Discord and weekly group video sessions.

Flexible Course Duration

Spend 20 hours a week on coursework to complete the course in 4 weeks, 10 hours a week to complete it in 8 weeks, or anything in between.

Design Challenge

At the end of UX Academy Foundations, you'll work on a final design challenge which you can use in your application for UX Academy to showcase your newfound knowledge and skills.

$500 UX Academy Credit

Earn a $500 credit towards UX Academy if you decide to move on to our flagship course. What’s better than learning design? Learning design for free!

Learn the Design Process

From ideation to handoff, work through a flow similar to what you’d find in an actual studio or company. You’ll bring your ideas to life as either a fully fledged webpage or app by the end of the course.

8 Mentor Sessions

Foundations includes 8 hours of live 1-on-1 instruction from a vetted professional designer who will review your work and give you personalized feedback. Sessions are scheduled flexibly according to your availability.

18 Hands-on Projects

Learn by doing and hone your skills through 18 hands-on projects. A fantastic way to kickstart your portfolio.

Certificate of Completion

Proudly display your new skills through a custom, shareable landing page certificate that showcases your project work.

Join a Community

Learn alongside a vibrant community of peers, and get support through Discord and weekly group video sessions.

Flexible Course

Spend 20 hours a week on coursework to complete the course in 4 weeks, 10 hours a week to complete it in 8 weeks, or anything in between.

Real Project Reviews

Explore real project work that students have recently worked on in our UX Academy Foundations course.

Plan Your UX Academy Timeline

A new cohort of Foundations and UX Academy starts each month. Map out your journey below and estimate your graduation date depending on how much time you can dedicate to your coursework.

Have you worked as a graphic, digital, or web designer?

Timeline and requirements change based on your experience.

When do you plan to start Foundations?

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How long do you think Foundations will take you?

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When do you plan to start UX Academy?

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Which UX Academy Track do you plan to take?

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Foundations begins

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Submit your UX Academy application

Apply with a sample of your design work for our Admissions panel to review.

Foundations ends

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Resubmit if requested by Admissions

Our Admissions panel will provide helpful feedback and discuss next steps with you.

UX Academy application deadline

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Dates TBA

UX Academy starts

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UX Academy ends

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Dates TBA

Expert Mentors

Learn everything you need to know from the expert designers whom we’ve vetted to join our mentoring community.

See the full list

Learn Visual Design With Clear Goals

Every unit has clear goals that will help you understand how you’re doing in the course. Your mentor will help you understand and achieve each goal as you progress through the material.

01

Visual Design Basics

Learning Goals

Audit your current level of design skills
Learn about visual design principles
Get started in Sketch or Figma

02

UI Design Principles

Learning Goals

Understand how the visual principles from Unit 1 apply to user interfaces
Complete some UI design exercises that apply these principles
Learn how to create a landing page in Sketch or Figma

03

UI Design Elements

Learning Goals

Understand UI design in more detail, including UI elements and design patterns
Learn best practices for using size, spacing, and scale in UI design
Learn how to create a mobile UI design in Sketch or Figma

04

Design Evaluation and Critique

Learning Goals

Learn the importance of giving and receiving design critique well
Understand the importance of effective and healthy communication
Grasp why iterating on design work is essential for good results

05

Designing for Multiple Devices

Learning Goals

Understand modern principles of responsive design
Consolidate learning about size and scale in UI design
Learn how components and design systems support multi-device design

06

Images, Icons, and Logos

Learning Goals

Learn how to use photography in UI design
Understand how to use icons and illustrations in UI design
Learn how to design responsive logos

07

Color and Typography

Learning Goals

Understand the basics of color theory and how to apply them to interface designs
Learn the basics of typography and how to choose fonts for interface designs

08

10-Hour Design Challenge

Learning Goals

Apply your learning from Units 1-7 to an independent design brief
Understand the value of iterating on this project

Student Success Stories

Explore our students’ backgrounds and see what they thought about the course.

Yehuda & Emily 1 Victoria & Michael 2

Yehuda

Current Role: Student

Design Experience: Beginner

“I love the balance between getting to connect with people and being able to express myself artistically.”

I originally became interested in becoming a Product Designer because I love the balance between getting to connect with people, while also being able to express myself artistically.

I found UX Academy Foundations to be super thorough and structured in an easy and enjoyable fashion. The course is filled with great ways to unleash your creativity. My mentor, Emily, really helped me understand the role of a Product Designer, and how to use my unique skillset to make great design choices.

Emily Mentor

Current Role: Product Designer

Design Experience: 7+ years

“Yehuda was really receptive to feedback which enabled him to refine his skills and natural talent.”

Yehuda was an excellent student to mentor. He was always full of energy, keen to learn, and clearly had a passion for design.

Over the course of UX Academy Foundations, Yehuda was really receptive to feedback which enabled him to refine his skills and natural talent. He also has an inquisitive nature and was always asking why things were done a certain way, which led to great discussions and is exactly the right mindset a student should have entering the field of UX!

Victoria

Current Role: Student

Design Experience: Beginner

“Taking UX Academy Foundations is where I truly fell in love with UX/UI design.”

I’ve always had a passion for art growing up and during my internship at college, I worked with a UX/UI designer, was inspired by her work, and became intrigued to learn more.

Taking UX Academy Foundations is then where I truly fell in love with UX/UI design. During the course, I learned an immense amount and was able to express my creativity through my own designs. Conversations with my mentor were extremely effective and informative, and he did an amazing job of helping me understand the reasons behind design best practices. If I ever had a question, he would immediately answer and give additional examples to help me fully grasp the information.

Michael Mentor

Current Role: CPO & Head of Design

Design Experience: 10+ years

“Victoria was professional, committed, and eager to learn.”

Working with Victoria was a great experience — she was professional, committed and eager to learn. She also asked great questions and put a ton of energy into the process overall.

My favorite moment was half way through the UX Academy Foundations course when I knew things had started to click for her. She gained confidence as she continued to tackle each new challenge and I loved watching her progress.

Rave Reviews for Designlab

Ranked 4.8 out of 5

On Course Report

30,000+

Mentor sessions
in the last year

Rated 4.8 out of 5

On SwitchUp

Design Challenge Preview

In the last unit of UX Academy Foundations, you'll work on a final design challenge to apply everything you've learned in the course. With the support of your mentor, you'll get this project to a standard in which it's ready to use in your application for UX Academy!

Claire

I began by uploading all of my elements to Figma and then started drawing out a few rough sketches on paper. I started designing my webpage first and then took my web elements and transferred them to the app design. I based my design & color palette off of the main photo.

Is the green used on the app control panels too vibrant? Is it okay to switch the color of the logo on the app or should it be uniform across devices? Any advise is welcome!!

Kendall Mentor

Status Approved

just these teeeny little changes we talked about on the call! Everything else LOOKS SO GOOD!!

Claire

I made the last few edits to my desktop design. Any feedback is welcome!

Read about Claire's work

Claire

I began by uploading all of my elements to Figma and then started drawing out a few rough sketches on paper. I started designing my webpage first and then took my web elements and transferred them to the app design. I based my design & color palette off of the main photo.

Is the green used on the app control panels too vibrant? Is it okay to switch the color of the logo on the app or should it be uniform across devices? Any advise is welcome!!

Read mentor feedback

Kendall

Status Approved

just these teeeny little changes we talked about on the call! Everything else LOOKS SO GOOD!!

Learn more about Foundations + UX Academy and how to take your first step!

Save your spot in the next cohort today

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I’m Ready To Enroll

Still have questions? Book an admissions call!

No design or software experience required

We'll help you get started with the industry's latest tools.

Flexible course length and deadlines

Early morning, late at night, on the weekends—it’s up to you.

Created for Career
Switchers

Perfect for adding new skills, or starting a career change.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to know Sketch (or Figma, Adobe XD) beforehand?

Not at all! This course is for complete design beginners, so we'll provide tutorials to help you get started with your tool of choice. You'll also practice that tool throughout the course as you work on different projects.

How are mentor sessions scheduled?

In UX Academy Foundations, we recommend you schedule one mentor session per unit. These are flexible and you can schedule them yourself based on your mentor's posted timeslots. You can also reach out to your mentor to figure out the best time that works for both of you!

What does the $500 UX Academy credit mean?

Since many of our students are switching careers into UX/UI/product design as beginners, we offer UX Academy Foundations as an introductory course and prerequisite to take before UX Academy. To help with costs, we provide students a credit of $500 towards their UX Academy tuition, effectively making Foundations included at no additional cost.

Am I guaranteed entry into UX Academy if I take UX Academy Foundations?

It’s not guaranteed, but you have a good chance! Once you’ve completed your final design challenge in Foundations, you’ll need to apply for UX Academy. Our Admissions panel will review your design work and progression through this preliminary course based on our prerequisites, and you’ll receive a response within 2-4 working days.

What happens after the 8-week deadline?

You’ll still have access to all of the course materials, however you’ll no longer have mentor sessions or feedback. Please note, your UX Academy application may be affected if you take longer than 8 weeks to complete Foundations.

Do I need to be online at a specific time to complete coursework?

No, you can access the online coursework and complete the projects asynchronously within the suggested timeline. The suggested timeline is established to help guide you and keep you on track to complete the course by your target graduation date.

There are "scheduled" parts of the course that will need to be completed at specific times, however, you have some control over scheduling these based on your availability.

The parts of the course that require synchronous participation and scheduling are:

• Mentor Sessions: You arrange with your mentor based on mutual availability
• Group Crits: You choose what sessions work best with your schedule from a wide range of available dates and times

Do you offer any discounts?

We currently offer discounts for existing students, and veterans. We also offer a payment plan that allows you to pay half up front and half at the end of the course. We’ve also had past students’ employers sponsor their course tuition.

What if I can’t start the course on launch day?

Since the course is self paced and flexible in nature—when you decide to start your first week’s curriculum is up to you!

What if I don’t like the course?

You can drop the course at any time and we’ll provide a prorated refund based on how many mentor sessions you’ve used.

Can I use my company’s L&D budget for this course?

Absolutely! If you have any questions about how to do this when you’re enrolling for the course, please reach out via our Help Center contact form for more information.

What if I’m a part of a team that wants to take this course?

We’re happy to work with a team or company and optimize the course to teach several students at once. Depending on how many students there are, we’re happy to offer additional discounts. Please reach out via our Help Center contact form for more information.

See more questions

Pricing $499 $599 for 4-8 weeks

I’m Ready To Enroll

Limited spots available this month

You won’t be charged anything today—only on the first day of the course. If you decide to continue on with UX Academy, you’ll receive a $500 credit. and your final project can be sumitted as a prerequisite