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With a low barrier to entry, flexible remote work, and soaring global demand, a career in UX design can be highly rewarding. To succeed at UX design, you need to keep learning and upskilling yourself in new concepts, tools, and trends.
So, what’s the easiest way to break into this field or hone your skills to bag better opportunities?
Simple: online UX design courses.
Taking a UX design course online is a shorter, cost-effective, and self-paced alternative to bootcamps. These courses can take between a few hours to weeks to complete and equip you with a strong UX portfolio to showcase your skills.
In this article, you’ll learn about the 11 most popular UX design courses available to you right now. We’ve included each course's pricing, timelines, and curriculum to help you make your final pick.
- Uxcel’s UX Design Courses (All skill levels)
- UX Design Certificate by Google (Beginner)
- UX Academy Foundations by DesignLab (Beginner)
- Introduction to User Experience Design by Coursera (Beginner)
- UX Design Process and Theory: For Everyone by Skillshare (Beginner)
- Certified 16-Week Product Design Course by Dribbble (Intermediate)
- Agile Methods for UX Design by Interaction Design Foundation (Intermediate)
- User Experience Design Course by General Assembly (Advanced)
- Advance Your Skills in UX Design by LinkedIn Learning (Advanced)
- Human-Centered Design 201: Prototyping by Acumen Academy (Advanced)
- Business Value Through User Experience (UX) Design by FutureLearn (Advanced)
First, let’s check out the skills to learn in an online UX design course and the key factors to look out for when choosing one.
What skills should a UX design course teach you?
As a UX designer, your skill set is your biggest strength. Online courses can help you level up these skills and produce better results. Here are six must-have UX designs skills to add to your portfolio:
- Soft skills: while UX design involves a lot of technical skill, UX designers need interpersonal skills like effective collaboration, project management, empathy, and communication to excel at work.
- User testing: learning how users interact with a product will help you optimize the user interface design to meet user expectations and deliver a seamless experience.
- User research: designers spend much of their non-design time researching and analyzing their target audience through card sorting, questionnaires, or user interviews.
- Design thinking: you need to build a problem-solving mindset to anticipate your end user’s pain points and create meaningful design solutions that benefit them. This skill will also help you iterate designs properly.
- UX principles of design: learn the best ways to use typography, colors, and visual hierarchy to enhance your designs with the right visual cues.
- Wireframing and prototyping: these are two core skills you need to take up any UX design project. They’ll improve your ability to envision a product from scratch and bring it to life.
Now that you know what core skills you should focus on when developing your UX knowledge, let’s look at the best features to look for in a UX design online course.
Key features of an online UX design course
Here are the most crucial features you should check and compare to find the right UX course for you:
- Length: online courses vary in duration—from a few hours to even months. Consider what you can commit to, what fits with your schedule, and what works best for your learning process.
- Pricing: decide on a budget before setting out to find a design course. Course costs can vary significantly, so look for the right pricing within your budget.
- Reviews: not all courses are made for your learning goals. Read learners’ reviews to understand what every course has to offer and whether it aligns with your expectations and needs. This will also help you figure out the quality of a course’s materials.
- Instructor: read up on the course instructor(s) to see if you’ll benefit from their expertise. Alternatively, you can find self-instructed design courses that move at your pace.
- Skill level: this is a critical feature to consider before finalizing your decision. Learning for the wrong skill level can be a waste of time and money, and can spoil your experience.
- Curriculum: check out the course curriculum to get a full picture of the UX design skills and concepts you’ll learn. Make a decision based on which curriculum matches your current skill level and learning goals.
With this list of key features, you’re ready to analyze all available UX courses and pick the best ones to upskill yourself. Before we look at the details, here’s a summary of each UX design course.
11 Top online UX design courses
Here’s our roundup of the 11 best online courses to improve your UX skills and scale your career. You’ll find the top features, skill level, new skills to learn, and pricing plans for each course.
1. Uxcel’s UX Design Courses (All skill levels)
- Lessons and courses: pick up individual lessons covering a specific topic to quickly build your creative skills, or undergo courses—comprised of multiple lessons—on a specific topic or skill
- Assessments: assess UX skills and build a Skill Graph as you learn and develop your skills to identify your strong suits and weaknesses, and prove your expertise to prospective employers
- Challenges: test and hone your skills by completing challenges for various UX design skills
- UX certifications: earn globally recognized UX design certifications to gain credibility and validate your design skills
- UX training: choose from three curated career paths to take up courses that prepare you for professional certifications
- Arcade: gamify your learning experience and learn in an application-based format with UX games
Skills you'll learn:
Here are a handful of the design skills you can learn with Uxcel:
- 3D design
- UX writing
- Typography
- UX research
- Wireframing
- Mobile design
- Design accessibility
- UX design foundations
For a full view, head over to the app and browse the UX design course catalog.
Pricing details
The Starter plan is available at $0/month and the Pro plan is available at $8/month. Check out the complete pricing details here.
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2. UX Design Certificate by Google (Beginner)
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Google’s UX design certificate course is designed for learners with no prior experience in the field. It’ll help you build foundational skills in UX design with 240 hours of learning materials and a completely flexible timeline that puts you in control.
Top features include:
- Job-ready curriculum: improve your job search as a UX designer with in-demand skills
- Peer-to-peer feedback: study remotely with a community of learners at the same skill level as you
- Quizzes and assessments: put your learning to the test and assess your skills with regular quizzes
Skills you'll learn:
You’ll learn a variety of UX design skills and tools, such as:
- Product design
- Responsive design
- Wireframing and prototyping
Pricing details
The course is available at $14/month.
3. UX Academy Foundations by DesignLab (Beginner)
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UX Academy Foundations is a 4-8-week course by DesignLab, created for people looking to switch to a UX design career and start from scratch. This beginner-level course will equip you with a complete understanding of design tools like Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD while building your professional portfolio with 35 hands-on projects.
Top features include:
- 1-on-1 instruction: get eight hours of live sessions with a personal mentor
- Design challenges: learn creative skills with 10-hour design challenges
- Async, flexible learning: attend 20 hours of classes in 8 weeks of 40 hours in 4 weeks
Skills you'll learn:
Here are some of the skills you’ll learn:
- UI design
- Sketch and Figma
- Visual communication
Pricing details
The course is priced at $499.
4. Introduction to User Experience Design by Coursera (Beginner)
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Introduction to User Experience Design is an online course by Georgia Tech University available on Coursera. It’s approximately six hours long and has over 350,000 learners on Coursera. Designed for beginners, the course covers four main aspects of the design process: requirement gathering, designing alternatives, prototyping, and evaluation.
Top features include:
- Flexible timelines: you can complete the course at your pace after enrolling for it
- Fast-paced learning: this short course condenses the fundamentals of UX design into six hours of quick learning
- Strong materials: the course instructor is a senior research scientist at Georgia Tech and offers a well-structured course
Skills you'll learn:
You can expect to learn these skills on this course:
- Prototyping
- User research
- Usability testing
Pricing details
You can complete the course for free.
5. UX Design Process and Theory: For Everyone by Skillshare (Beginner)
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The UX Design Process and Theory course is a beginner-level course with six main modules and three mini-projects. The course gets you comfortable with the basics of UX UI design, then introduces technical concepts like user personas, user journey mapping, user flows, and wireframing.
Top features include:
- Short duration: you can finish this entire course in under an hour
- Application-based: work on three mini-projects to apply your learnings in practice
- Available on free trial: complete this course on a free trial of Skillshare to see if it interests you
Skills you'll learn:
This Skillshare course teaches you:
- UI design
- Web design
- Journey mapping
- Mobile apps design
Pricing details
The course is available in a Skillshare subscription of $32/month.
6. Certified 16-Week Product Design Course by Dribbble (Intermediate)
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Dribbble’s Certified 16-Week Product Design Course is ideal for part-time learners looking to balance online learning with a full-time role. It includes a mix of self-learning and live classes with 3-4 capstone projects to build a stellar portfolio.
Top features include:
- Personal mentors: have weekly 1:1 connects with your personal mentor
- Workshops: learn from design leaders and experts through live workshops
- Connect with hiring managers: prepare for job interviews with advice from Dribbble’s hiring managers
Skills you'll learn:
Learn about these UX design concepts with Dribbble:
- Wireframing
- UX UI research
- Figma designing
Pricing details
The course is available for $3,999 upfront, or three monthly payments of $1,080.
7. Agile Methods for UX Design by Interaction Design Foundation (Intermediate)
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Agile Methods for UX Design is a self-paced course designed for intermediate-level learners. The course focuses on implementing the agile methodology for UX design with an in-depth view of concepts like sprints, scrum, the Dual Track Agile framework, user stories, and more.
Top features include:
- Permanent access: get lifetime access to the course and learn at your convenience and pace
- Expert grading: complete assignments and receive grades with feedback from experts
- Certificate: show employers proof of your skills with an industry-recognized certificate
Skills you'll learn:
This course helps you develop these skills:
- Collaboration
- Project management
- Research and evaluation
Pricing details
This program is available with IDF’s membership for $11/month (Student plan) or $16/month (Professional plan).
8. User Experience Design Course by General Assembly (Advanced)
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General Assembly’s User Experience Design Course is a flexible program available online and on-campus. The course includes real-world portfolio projects with pre-course prep lessons and personalized instructor support to deliver a value-packed learning experience.
Top features include:
- Flexible timelines: enroll in a fast-paced full-time option or go for a more relaxed part-time option
- Dynamic curriculum: you can choose to go for beginner or advanced curriculum based on your skill level
- Career support: get help in your job search and land a rewarding job right after completing the course
Skills you'll learn:
This General Assembly course teaches you about:
- User research
- Usability testing
- Content strategy
- Wireframing and prototyping
Pricing details
The course is available for $15,950 full-time and $3,950 part-time.
9. Advance Your Skills in UX Design by LinkedIn Learning (Advanced)
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Advance Your Skills in UX Design is a part of the LinkedIn Learning library with eight hours of learning materials. The course gives you an in-depth understanding of tools like Figma and Sketch. It also covers more advanced UX concepts like web analytics, interaction design, and remote research.
Top features include:
- Expert instructors: the course delivers knowledge from six leading design experts
- Self-paced learning: complete the eight hours of learning material at your convenience
- Hands-on curriculum: work on projects and assessments to apply your theoretical knowledge to practice
Skills you'll learn:
You’ll learn about:
- Prototyping
- Collaboration
- Web analytics
- User research
Pricing details
The course is available for free with a LinkedIn Learning subscription for $19.99/month.
10. Human-Centered Design 201: Prototyping by Acumen Academy (Advanced)
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Human-Centered Design 201 is an advanced course on prototyping, spanning four weeks. This live course brings you lessons from designers at the renowned IDEO.org—a non-profit design studio supporting passionate designers. The course also includes four reading guides and workshops apart from the video lectures.
Top features include:
- No fees involved: advance your skill set for free with this course
- Activity-based: immerse yourself in practical learning with hands-on projects and activities
- In-depth feedback: learn, implement, and receive feedback from seasoned instructors
Skills you'll learn:
Here are some of the skills you can expect to develop:
- Prototyping
- Journey mapping
- Debriefing and iterating
Pricing details
This course is available for free.
11. Business Value Through User Experience Design by FutureLearn (Advanced)
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The Business Value Through User Experience Design course requires a 4-hour/week commitment for four weeks to dive deep into the commercial applications of UX design. The course will prepare you to use your skills to build a deep understanding of the UX space.
Top features include:
- Field research: work on capstone projects to get hands-on research experience
- Classroom discussions: learn in a collaborative environment with weekly catch ups with other students in your batch
- Track progress: track your progress through the course in real-time and mark every step complete once you’re done
Skills you'll learn:
Some of the skills you’ll learn include:
- UI design
- Design thinking
- Research process
Pricing details
The course is available for a subscription price of $27.99/month.
Choose the best UX design course for your career
To make it big in the fast-evolving UX design space, you need to consistently improve UX design skills and knowledge. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to scale your career, online courses can give you the perfect opportunity to strengthen your skills and become better at your craft.
If you want a wide selection of high-quality options and a self-paced learning approach, Uxcel has a variety of courses, lessons, and assessments to help you upskill your UX knowledge.
Try Uxcel for free today to see for yourself.
