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About Us

We empower creators to do the work they love.

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Mentor-led, online design education with a focus on quality and outcomes.

Harish Venkatesan, one of our co-founders, came up with the idea for the company in 2012 while reading Creative Workshop, a book of design exercises. It became clear that a continuous cycle of feedback and iteration is essential for anyone aspiring to improve their design skills. Since then, we’ve brought that idea to life by crafting our vision of an ideal online learning platform. Every Designlab student is paired with an expert designer as their mentor, completes several hands-on projects, and receives ongoing design feedback and peer support from our student community.

Our mission is to empower creators.

With today’s design tools, creators can build products and services with the potential to enrich the lives of billions of people worldwide. New products are launched every day, so good design is crucial to staying relevant in a competitive market. Today, more than ever before, you can cheaply experiment and reinvent your skills until you find what you truly love. After all, you spend 60% of your waking hours at work, so itโ€™s only right that you enjoy it.

In this environment, we believe these traits are more important than ever: Creativity. Lifelong learning. Passion for your work.

These have no place: Crippling student debt. Unfulfilling jobs. Unsatisfying careers that we choose by default.

We’re combining the power of the internet with the magic of 1-on-1 mentoring to create an invaluable educational experience that is affordable and accessible worldwide. Our goal is to guide you to find the creative work you love, and to help you become a master of your craft. Join us!

Our Team

We’re a distributed team of creators & doers located across the globe.

Team Member Avatar Harish Venkatesan

Harish Venkatesan

Founder/CEO

Last Skill Learned

Stand up paddleboarding โ€” my big takeaways were to balance, find momentum, and enjoy the (inevitable) falls.

Team Member Avatar Daniel Shapiro

Daniel Shapiro

Founder/CTO

Favorite Skill Learned

It's a close tie between writing DAX formulas in Power BI and properly folding a fitted sheet.

Team Member Avatar Edgar Salazar

Edgar Salazar

Software Development

Last Skill Learned

How to build my own PC and procure its components with very limited availability.

Team Member Avatar Mandy Kerr

Mandy Kerr

VP of People Ops

Favorite Skill Learned

It's a toss up between these two: adding spin to my tennis shots, or epic budget road trip planning.

Team Member Avatar Emma Shimmens

Emma Shimmens

Growth Lead

Last Skill Learned

Paddleboarding! I've wanted to have a go for so long, and absolutely loved it. A few wobbly moments, but didn't fall in!

Team Member Avatar Matt Shaw

Matt Shaw

Head of Engineering

Favorite Skill Learned

Playing guitar and creating various genres of music.

Team Member Avatar Melissa McDougall

Melissa McDougall

Customer Experience Specialist / Mentorship

Favorite Skill Learned

My favorite skill I've learned is speaking another language. I've been able to make so many impactful connections as a result of speaking more than just English and I'm grateful for that experience.

Team Member Avatar Emily Ho

Emily Ho

Community Manager

Last Skill Learned

Making small animations in Figma using interactive components!

Team Member Avatar Emilyann Gachko

Emilyann Gachko

Senior Admissions Coordinator

Favorite Skill Learned

My favorite learned skill (and one I continue to learn more about!) is training horses. Every horse is different, so there's always something new to experience.

Team Member Avatar Chris Ohman

Chris Ohman

Senior BizOps Specialist

Last Skill Learned

The art of long-haul roadtripping.

Team Member Avatar Timothy Moore

Timothy Moore

Learning Experience Designer

Favorite Skill Learned

Architectural drafting and sketching.

Team Member Avatar Crystal Campbell

Crystal Campbell

Mentor Experience Lead

Last Skill Learned

Beekeeping.

Team Member Avatar Zeynep Ozkasim

Zeynep Ozkasim

Customer Experience Lead

Favorite Skill Learned

Soccer - I can bounce the ball a lot :)

Team Member Avatar Nicola Bolton

Nicola Bolton

UI Developer

Last Skill Learned

How to draw characters realistically in the hope that one day I will create a children's storybook.

Team Member Avatar Joseph Cane

Joseph Cane

Customer Experience Specialist / Ops

Favorite Skill Learned

Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop - the first skill that I learned that allowed me to combine my love for art and tech.

Team Member Avatar Rudi Goddard

Rudi Goddard

Senior Admissions Coordinator

Last Skill Learned

I recently learned how to read the Georgian alphabet, which is unique compared to any other writing system in the world.

Team Member Avatar Katie Prutzman

Katie Prutzman

Customer Experience Specialist / Student Relations

Last Skill Learned

How to add lighting effects to illustrations in Procreate and how to make milk foam tea at home.

Team Member Avatar Claire You

Claire You

Customer Experience Specialist / Career Services

Favorite Skill Learned

Choreographing dance! Organizing bodies and movement in space teaches me to think decisively yet infinitely.

Team Member Avatar Alejo Rodriguez

Alejo Rodriguez

Full Stack Engineer

Last Skill Learned

I recently picked up gardening as a hobby!

Team Member Avatar Sara Sibylle

Sara Sibylle

Learning Content Creator

Favorite Skill Learned

How to build a PC - It's problem solving, patience and having a customized work/game system that meets my needs all rolled into one.

Team Member Avatar Ogonnaya Oshagbemi

Ogonnaya Oshagbemi

Senior Product Designer

Last Skill Learned

How to make ratatouille

Team Member Avatar Jess Shimmens

Jess Shimmens

Customer Experience Specialist

Favorite Skill Learned

My Montessori qualification, it enabled me to support children as they learn through real life experiences.

Team Member Avatar Danielle Abt

Danielle Abt

Growth Marketer

Last Skill Learned

How to properly score a baseball game. There are so many stats collected for hitting, fielding, and pitching and as the team mom/manager for my son's travel baseball team I help compile them for the coaches.

Team Member Avatar Ashish Gupta

Ashish Gupta

Digital Marketer

Favorite Skill Learned

Planning value for money trips with travel hacks, wonderful stays and unique experiences

Team Member Avatar Maria Myre

Maria Myre

SEO Specialist

Last Skill Learned

How to tap maple and birch trees and collect the sap to make syrup. Yum.

Team Member Avatar Glen Cook

Glen Cook

Admissions Coordinator

Favorite Skill Learned

My favorite skill is cooking! The ability to prepare meals for the people I love has always meant the world to me.

Team Member Avatar Danny Loss

Danny Loss

Customer Experience Specialist

Favorite Skill Learned

Learning to paint miniature models - it's helped me learn patience with myself, lets me relax with a quiet activity, and brings me joy to see the progress I've made, even in a short time!

Team Member Avatar Bobby Glover

Bobby Glover

Admissions Coordinator

Favorite Skill Learned

"The Pomodoro Technique!" This skill enables me to focus on a specific task for 25 minutes at a time. Immediately afterwards, I spend 5 minutes listening to Stevie Nicks! :)

Team Member Avatar Hillary Thelin

Hillary Thelin

Customer Experience Specialist

Favorite Skill Learned

Sidereal Astrology: I now have a deeper understanding of myself, my relationships, and the world. Plus it's really fun!

Team Member Avatar Orla Williams

Orla Williams

Learning Experience Design Lead

Favorite Skill Learned

Chess! I'm not an expert by any means, but it was a hard skill to learn and it felt great when I won my first game.

Team Member Avatar Cam Lay

Cam Lay

VP of Growth

Favorite Skill Learned

I learned guitar as an adult and it was so satisfying to go from the extreme difficulty of being a beginner to (after much struggle) being able to play.

Team Member Avatar Chadwick Smith

Chadwick Smith

Instructional Designer

Favorite Skill Learned

Tough question! I'll have to go with the thing that has had the widest-reaching effect on me: becoming fluent in German (and that acquiring this skill entailed).

Designlab by the numbers

Thousands of students have taken our courses.

Students Enrolled

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19,000+

Project Submissions

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1,350,000+

1-on-1 Mentor Sessions

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240,000+

Mentor Feedback Comments

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2,050,000+

Mentors

Over 400 industry professionals from tech’s hottest companies

Apply to become a mentor
mentor avatar

Kristijan Binski

Uniko
mentor avatar

Matt Farley

Freelance
mentor avatar

Tara Shipp

Pura
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Mariaclara Golfo

McG Designs
mentor avatar

Tolulope Oyewumi

Braintrust
mentor avatar

Dawn Nguyen

Indeed
mentor avatar

Alok Dubey

Branch Metrics
mentor avatar

Enrico Rolando

frog
mentor avatar

Jaskharan

Mettle
mentor avatar

Chidiebere Okoro

AZA Finance
mentor avatar

Michael Shumaker

Eversend SAS
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Vildan Soydas

Toptal, Enuygun
View all of our mentors

Students

Our international student community is formed of driven, aspiring designers who work together to achieve their career goals

Jeanmarie Levy UX Designer At Code For America

Jeanmarie Levy

UX Designer at Code For America

“Honestly, the community of Designlab was crucial for my learning and success.”

Read Jeanmarie's story
Student Avatar Emily Pak

Emily Pak

UX Designer at Amazon

“The fast pace of UX Academy definitely mimics the deadlines of the real design world.”

Read Emily's story
Student Avatar Rachel Carton

Rachel Carton

UX Designer at Microsoft

“Iโ€™ve learned so much from working with other established designers, both through Designlab and at Microsoft.”

Read Rachel's story
Erik Gartzke UX Designer at SpaceCAMP

Erik Gartzke

UX Designer at SpaceCAMP

“I would not have gotten where I am today without the UX Academy program at Designlab.”

Read Erik's story
Student Avatar Alvin Kuang

Alvin Kuang

Product Designer at Glassdoor

“My career coach offered me so much advice and perspectives that I would otherwise be unaware about.”

Read Alvin's story
Hannah Cunningham Product Designer Royal Caribbean Cruises

Hannah Cunningham

Product Designer at Royal Caribbean Cruises

“I really think I learned more in UX Academy than I did my entire four years of business school.”

Read Hannah's story
Student Avatar Carlos

Carlos Castro

UX Designer at American Express

“My mentor 1-on-1s helped me to remain open to criticism and to iterate constantly.”

Read Carlos' story
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YOU

What is your dream job?

We offer short courses and an intensive UX Academy. Whether you want to upskill or build a new career, Designlab is for you.

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