A Fully Distributed Team Creating the Next Generation of UX and UI Designers - Anonymous Employee Designlab Employee Review
- 5.0Oct 15, 2021Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee, more than 1 year
Pros
The team is made up of compassionate, proactive, and organized individuals who work diligently to support the 1500+ students who go through the various courses Designlab offers. From processes/strategies to company-wide policies to the product itself, everything is well-designed and created with a people-first mentality. Most would agree that every employee has a voice. This is built into the company culture. Doesn’t matter how new you are, how little experience you have, or where you’re positioned within the company, individuals are given opportunities to propose ideas and offer feedback. A lot of students/customers choose Designlab over our competitors because they say we look like a program created by designers for designers. This is true. The proprietary platform and curriculum is created by a small, but mighty in-house team of designers, software engineers, and educators who all come from a creative background. The hiring process was efficient, straightforward, and stimulating. The two interviews consisted of questions that were thought provoking and not run-of-the-mill. The prompts encourage you to dig into both your work life as well as personal interests and values. I remember sharing stories both from past work situations and from outside of the professional context. If you make it past the two interviews, you will be offered a project that will test your skills/knowledge in the area in which you are applying. Whats awesome is that you get compensated for this work at a fair rate. If things go well with the project, you will receive an offer letter further detailing the responsibilities, title, salary, and benefits. Some of the benefits include medical and dental insurance, work anywhere policy, a very generous amount of PTO, 8 weeks’ paid parental leave, occasional team retreats, and Fridays off in July.
Cons
There are few downsides to working at Designlab. Being that Designlab is fully remote (no office space or headquarters), one might miss the in-person collaborative experiences you’d have at other creative companies. That being said, some people do meet up IRL if they happen to live in the same city. There are also in-person team retreats twice a year in awesome locations like Colorado or Portugal (when there isn’t a raging virus sweeping the planet). The other downside is turnover. People come and go with some frequency. This might be related to the fully remote working environment where people feel a little less attached to the team or company because of not having to meet in-person. This, however, is only a theory.
Other Employee Reviews
- 5.0Jul 22, 2023Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee
Pros
Strong remote first culture, friendly people and employee friendly policies like 4day workweek over summer
Cons
Going through somewhat tougher stretch due to tech layoffs hurting demand for the type of boot camps they offer
- 5.0May 22, 2023UX Design MentorCurrent Contractor, less than 1 year
Pros
Designlab is a great channel for experienced designers who want to help the next generation get into the industry in a way that doesn't make them compromise their work-life balance. Excellent community and very responsive support staff!
Cons
Sometimes the matching algorithm doesn't work in your favor because most students select years of experience they prefer their mentor to have quite arbitrarily.
