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About Us

We empower creators to do the work they love.

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 it’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.

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Harish Venkatesan

Founder/CEO

Built product at Venmo & Grubwithus; graduated from UPenn

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Daniel Shapiro

Founder/CTO

Previously full-stack developer at YCharts; graduated from Duke

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Patrick Multani

Design & Mentorship

Studied Concept Design; worked at Less & Better to listen and understand

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Edgar Salazar

Software Development

Builds products for nonprofits and startups; graduated from MIT & University of Manchester

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Austin Basallo

Operations

Philosophy & Lit @NYU; trying to make everyone else's life easier through ops

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Mandy Kerr

People Ops

Graduate of the University of Cape Town: geographer turned people ninja

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Alexa Harrison

Content Writer

Studied English at UMass; word wizard + marketing maven

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Emma Shimmens

Admissions

Graduate of the University of Nottingham; passionate about education

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Melissa McDougall

Support

Studied Screen Arts & Cultures at UMIch; passionate about documentary filmmaking, language-learning, and self-care

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Emily Ho

Product

Studied Psychology at UC San Diego; Visual Communications at FIDM; Loves to learn; Soft skills guru

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Chris Ohman

Operations

Studied Musicology and Media at NYU; Helping everyone reach their goals with ops magic

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Emilyann Gachko

Admissions

Studied Photography at Ramapo College; passionate about art, education, and getting outdoors.

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Timothy Moore

Curriculum

Learning experience designer; used to own a printers museum; studied industrial design at JMU

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Robbin Arcega

Curriculum

UC Davis grad in psychology and Japanese, escape room enthusiast, supposed polymath, edtech veteran

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Crystal Campbell

Mentorship

I like lots of things. I'm curious. I am a storyteller. I design experiences to engage people.

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Guido Baratta

Mentorship

Design Director at Samsung, TripAdvisor, NYT, and many more. Atlantic crossing sailor, wannabe TV host & private jet pilot.

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Zeynep Ozkasim

Support

Studied French Language and Literature at University of Hacettepe & UniversitΓ© Toulouse.

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Nicole Locklair

Partnerships

Studied advertising, design, and education; passionate about connecting people to opportunities.

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Nicola Bolton

Software Development

UI developer with a background in design; passionate about making things that make a difference.

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Joseph Cane

Support

Studied Art; passionate about design, education, and helping others.

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Rudi Goddard

Admissions

International & Areas Studies and Chinese at Kalamazoo College. Passionate about life-long learning. Public transit geek. Wants to try that wine.

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Sam Friedman

Design

Studied Studio Art and English at Skidmore College; instructor of design at Pratt Institute’s SCPS; lifelong learner; pencil + sketchbook at the ready.

Designlab by the numbers

Thousands of students have taken our courses.

Students Enrolled

9,000+

Project Submissions

300,000+

1-on-1 Mentor Sessions

60,000+

Mentor Feedback Comments

440,000+

Mentors

Over 400 industry professionals from tech’s hottest companies

Apply to become a mentor
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Cassandra Cappello

Microsoft
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Chandresh Gandhi

Walmart Global Tech
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Jarvis Moore

World Wide Technology
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Peter Javorkai

Adidas
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Keith Tatum

Visibility Experiements
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Jaskharan

Mettle
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Helena Barreiras

Toptal
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Muhammad Junaid

Toptal
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Victoria Fassola

Mercado Libre
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Rachee Jacobs

Houzz
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Zoie Zhu

Branding Brand
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Kelly Dern

Google
View all of our mentors

Students

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

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Jeanmarie Levy

UX Designer at Code For America

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

Read Jeanmarie's story
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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
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Rachel Carton

UX Designer at Microsoft

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

Read Rachel's story
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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
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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
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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
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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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