Susana Passinhas

“Susana was my mentor for UX Academy Phase 1, and I enjoyed working with her so much that we continued together through Phase 2. Susana was a constant supporter of my work and ideas, but she also didn't shy away from giving the constructive criticism that I needed. She always gave insightful feedback and constant encouragement throughout the course. She pushed me to do my best work, and now I have a portfolio full of work that I am proud of because of her. I couldn't have asked for a better mentor.”

“Susana's steady guidance was my anchor throughout my UXA journey. Though my capstones took longer than expected to complete, she remained professional and patient; even when I forgot processes along the way. Her thoughtful, constructive feedback and genuine encouragement motivated me to maintain momentum and overcome external challenges like burnout and a career transition. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to learn from Susana’s extensive technical and design knowledge. Her mentoring approach perfectly embodies UX design principles; she understood my unique needs, kept me motivated through frustrations and pain points, and ensured our meetings were positive, engaging, and informative experiences. I truly could not have asked for a better mentor.”

“My UX Academy Designlab experience was truly transformative, and I would not have had the same experience without Susana as my mentor. She is extremely knowledgeable, detail-oriented, and truly cares about her students. My UXA journey was longer than I’d anticipated due to unpredictable life events and at times I questioned whether I even belonged in the program, but Susana was phenomenal. Her guidance and support helped boost my confidence, improve my skills, and made me better than I ever imagined I could be. She was kind and encouraging, but also pushed me beyond my comfort zone, never accepting anything less than what she knew I was capable of. She really is the best mentor anyone could ask for. Thank you, Susana!”

“Susana was an outstanding mentor who provided consistently detailed, actionable, and constructive feedback through written comments and during our one-on-one sessions. Every call was productive, ensuring all assignments were thoroughly reviewed and any posing questions answered with clarity. She was exceptionally responsive, providing feedback promptly. Her critiques were always delivered with respect, patience, and professionalism. Whenever I faced moments of self-doubt or feeling burnt out, Susana’s continued support and motivational guidance helped me regain my focus and enthusiasm. As someone new to UX design, I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to the field. Susana’s genuine investment in my growth made the UX Academy journey truly invaluable. The skills, design principles, and confidence I gained under her mentorship will undoubtedly benefit my career moving forward.”

“My time at design lab ended up being longer than usual due to many life obstacles. I was having a really difficult time and throughout the process, Susana has been such a light. Not only was she a mentor for my UX education but also in life. She was incredibly patient with me and did the best she could whenever I had major setbacks. When I didn’t understand something, her responses were prompt and she would find ways for me to digest the information. Susana’s demonstrations helped me improve a lot and something just clicked when I finally was able to refocus my attention to my UX goal. Thank you so much Susana for being by my side. I hope I make you proud and your future students are lucky to have you!”

“Working with Susana has been nothing short of amazing. She’s exceptionally knowledgeable, professional, and patient. She was always punctual with our sessions, and her feedback was incredibly thorough, explained in a way that was easy to understand. Susana wasn’t just an amazing UX mentor—she genuinely cared about her students’ growth and confidence. She consistently took my circumstances into account, guiding me through the academy with constant dedication and an eye for detail. Her kindness and passion for teaching really set her apart. One of the main reasons I joined DL was for the mentorship, and Susana far exceeded my expectations. I’m incredibly grateful for the growth I’ve experienced under her guidance, and I’d recommend her to anyone seeking mentorship in UX design—it’s an opportunity not to be missed.”

“When they say that a teacher makes a lasting impact in our lives, they aren't wrong when it comes to Susana. My experience in UXF in Desiglab would have never been the same without Susana. She was an extremely knowledgeable, caring and wonderful mentor. She listened to any questions/concerns and taught with a high level of knowledge. Something that I will never forget about my experience with Susana as as a mentor is that she believed in me even when I would doubt myself. She was motivating, encouraging and I truly would have not been able to push through without her support. Thank you Susana for all you do for your students! DL is lucky to have you!”

“During my 8 week UXAF course, Susana was supportive as well as challenging, especially when it came to my design decisions. Through feedback, she helped me to understand the importance of consistency in my work and encouraged me to look further afield for creative inspiration. I felt as though her academic background and real world experiences gave me a good insight into the world of UX. I enjoyed my time on the foundations course, and part of this was down to the good experience of mentorship with Susana. Her enthusiasm for UX clearly showed and made me feel positive about my progression into UX/UI.”

“I had a great experience with Susana as my mentor during Foundations. She was kind and encouraging, and she always came prepared with well-informed answers to my questions from her years of personal experience working in the design industry. She was able to identify my strengths even as a beginning designer and offer me personalized feedback and advice on how to amplify those strengths. Every session I had with her was fruitful and I will be taking the lessons I took from her with me into UX Academy and beyond.”

“She was an excellent mentor, so kind, knowledgeable and passionate. Her feedback was always on point, she kept me thinking, learning and ultimately helped me to believe in myself. Through a few short weeks I was able to learn and grow so much as a designer and can now confidently continue my journey into the UX Academy. I couldn't have done it without her mentorship!”

“I wouldn't have excelled as much as I did without Susana! She genuinely cared to check every detail of my work and put incredible effort into not only improving my design and research skills, but reframing my mindset as a designer. She gave me tools and confidence that are priceless and I am so thankful I got to go on this journey with her.”

“Susana was always well prepared and consistently gave detailed, constructive feedback, whether it be through commenting on project submissions or mentor session calls. During call sessions, she made sure all assignments and any questions I had were discussed and answered. She was encouraging, respectful, and professional in the way she gave feedback. While she provided feedback and resources, she also encouraged me to have confidence and trust in making my own design decisions, helping me grow as an UX designer and as an individual. Furthermore, she had a lot of availability and was flexible with scheduling calls and communicating with feedback about submitted assignments. UXA has been my first time learning about the field of UX/UI design and I am glad that I was able to learn from Susana. Her care and support for success has made my UXA experience extremely valuable.”

“She is absolutely brilliant when it comes to her knowledge in UX / UI but also in design as a whole. On a technical note, she is exceptional at explaining UX / UI concepts. Susana is also a natural at teaching. I really felt cared about with my progress and she would boost my confidence and motivate me when I needed it the most. I love her style of critique, she's very thorough, respectful and very clear when it comes to giving feedback. On a professional level, she's the most organized! She schedules our sessions in advance, shows up on time and replies / communicates always in a timely fashion. I can say without hesitation, she was the best part of my UXA experience.”

“I have had a wonderful experience working with Susana Passinhas as my UXA mentor. She is a highly skilled UX designer with a deep understanding of the principles of user-centered design. She also has a strong visual design background which shows in all of her feedback and work. In addition to her technical skills, Susana is also an excellent communicator and teacher. She is gifted in explaining complex concepts in a clear and practical way that goes beyond academic teachings and obviously draws deeply from her years of hands-on experience. Susana is passionate about helping students learn and grow. She is also a patient and encouraging mentor- she was very supportive and flexible. She is always very organized with planning and a clear communicator on her expectations and availability. As I near the end of my program, I would most definitely consider Susana’s mentorship the most beneficial aspect of my experience enrolling in UXA. Susana always gave me very clear feedback and often went above and beyond UXA’s project goals and made sure I understood what would be expected of me in a real-world working environment. She is clearly invested in my development as a designer and I would enthusiastically recommend her to any DL student.”

“Susana was my mentor for UX Foundations and I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to Designlab! I credit her for a lot of my visual design growth because of how patient she was and how clearly she explained her feedback. She really made me feel prepared to go into UX Academy and I brought a lot of her advice with me as I completed UXA. Now I'm close to graduating Designlab and I think she was a big help in getting me here!”

“I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude for my UX Foundation mentor Susanna’s invaluable guidance and support throughout my UXF journey. She inspires me with her constant encouragement and optimism. I enjoy working and achieving goals with her.”

“I had Susana Passinhas as my mentor for Foundations and about 2 weeks of Academy before I withdrew. I wanted to say that she was an incredible mentor that was so warm and attentive from the beginning. I was incredibly nervous before starting Foundations because I had come from an entirely different background and made a complete pivot to design. I was also nervous about the time difference since I am in California while she is based in Barcelona. From the first meeting, her main points of conversation in the session were focused on getting to know me, learning what I wanted to gain from the program and mentorship, and comforting me about the uncertain job market. I was immediately put at ease. Since then, she was consistently supportive and her criticism/feedback was plentiful yet encouraging. She would explain why she thought a specific element could use iterating, but always included positive feedback and smiley faces so I would never feel discouraged. She made me feel as if she wanted me to grow for the better, and specifically told me that (as long as I was okay with it) she was going to push me to do my best. I felt motivated under her mentorship, and she made me happy to work hard on every assignment. Also, the time difference was never something I even thought about since after our first meeting. Susana provided feedback so promptly and set up meetings well in advance that it was never an issue. For the final Foundations 10-hour project, what I really liked is that she did not just "approve" my assignment just to be done with it. She thoroughly analyzed my project so that she would ensure that it would be a high quality project to be assessed by the Academy admissions team. Susana even met with me on a Saturday evening during her time so that I could submit the project on time. She made sure I was learning throughout the iteration process and that I was submitting something I was ultimately proud of. When I started UXA, I was assigned a different mentor, which I was more than okay with. I was open-minded about being under a new mentorship and attended a few meetings before realizing that Susana's approach to mentoring was the best fit for me. As soon as I switched from my original UXA mentor to Susana, it was like night and day. Susana always sent meeting links/Google event invitations far ahead of the meeting time, and showed up on time. She used every minute of a session productively and never made me feel as if our sessions were rushed. Susana was always professional but had a warmness that made me feel like I did not have to hold back on insecurities about my skills. It was nice to not only get to know the UX field, but herself as a mentor as well. Overall, I would recommend Susana as a mentor to anyone! I unfortunately had to withdraw from the program, but loved my time in the program, a large part due to the mentorship.”