You may also see the abbreviation “UI” in the title of some courses. UI means “user interface, ” the visual layout that users interact with when they use an app or site.
UX design is a valuable skill because websites and apps are becoming a requirement for a successful business. Every website or app needs designers, and digital design is more effective when done with the user’s experience in mind. Increasingly, businesses within and beyond tech are realizing the importance of UX design. Knowing UX design will make you desirable for multiple careers—not just UX design, but web design and front-end development among other possible career paths.
The 10 Best Online UX Design Classes
- Thinkful—UX/UI Design Bootcamp (Live Online)
- Ironhack—UX/UI Design Bootcamp (Live Online)
- Noble Desktop—UX & UI Design Certificate (Live Online)
- BrainStation—UX Design Bootcamp (Live Online)
- General Assembly—UX Design (Live Online)
- Flatiron School—Product Design and UI/UX Bootcamp (Live Online or On-Demand)
- DevMountain—UX Design (Live Online)
- Kenzie Academy—UX Design Certificate Program (Live Online)
- Interaction Design Foundation—UX Designer Learning Path (On-Demand)
- DesignLab—UX Academy (On-demand)
#1: Thinkful—UX/UI Design Bootcamp (Live Online)
In Thinkful’s live online UX/UI Design Bootcamp, students start off by learning key concepts like user research, interaction, usability, and visual design. They discover how to formulate a research plan and carry it out. Coursework will cover the skills of wireframing and prototyping to allow students’ teams and users to test the product designs they make.
Learn UX Design
- Live & Hands-on
- In NYC or Online
- Learn From Experts
- Free Retake
- Small Class Sizes
- Certificate of Completion
Through a hands-on project, students gain experience designing for and communicating with a real client. The class also covers visual design concepts including branding, usability, and accessibility. For the capstone, students independently complete the design process for a product they choose, which will allow them to show what they’ve learned. And finally, the course will help students create an impressive portfolio to show off their work to prospective employers.
Key Information
Both full-time live online and part-time on-demand options are available for this course. The full-time option is a 5-month course at 50 hours a week. Before taking the full-time bootcamp course, you must take a 4-week self-paced prep course through Thinkful. This course costs $14,283 if paid for upfront. You can also do month-to-month payments of $3294 for a total of $16,740. It is also possible to get tuition deferred. There are modest discounts available for women, non-binary people, and veterans.
The part-time option is a 6-month course at 20-25 hours a week. There are non-prerequisites for this version of the course. If paid for upfront, the course costs $12,350. The same payment plans and discounts are available for the part-time as for the full-time course.
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Thinkful offers personalized career coaching throughout the program. This includes individual and group career support sessions, resume writing support, mock behavioral and technical interviews, curated technological content for student reading, career Q&As, and workshops based on career-focused themes. You will also receive mentoring from an experienced UX Designer, as well as support from dedicated learning assistants.
A student who “accepted an offer for an amazing position” says the Thinkful program is challenging “but it pays off.” Another writes that “you will come away with the skills needed” to become a professional UX Designer.
#2: Ironhack—UX/UI Design Bootcamp (Live Online)
Students in Ironhack’s UX Design Bootcamp will learn the fundamental principles of user-centered design. They will go through the Design Thinking process, from user research through prototyping to user testing and design iteration. Next, they’ll learn to implement their designs through front-end web development using HTML and CSS. As a capstone, they will engage in a design process in which they take a new product idea all the way from validation to launch.
As part of the learning process, students will acquire the ability to organize large amounts of data, which will allow them to create logical user/task flows through information architecture. They will study how to create immersive user interfaces through principles from visual design. Students will also conduct heuristic evaluations to comply with usability principles. And, to make their designs more useful, they’ll learn to communicate and articulate their design ideas to a team.
Key Information
This course is available both full-time and part-time. The full-time bootcamp is nine weeks at 45 hours a week. Before taking the class, you must complete an on-demand prework course to learn basic concepts. The full-time course costs $12,000. You can pay upfront or in 3 installments.
For the part-time bootcamp, you’ll study for 24 weeks at 13 hours per week. The pre work course is required here as well. The part-time bootcamp is $13,000. You can pay upfront or in 3 installments.
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This program includes intensive career support throughout the bootcamp and delivers an 88% placement success rate. The career program includes resume and LinkedIn help, technical and personal interview practice, and guidance on how to negotiate salary and benefits. They also organize workshops for alumni with a 50% discount and hold events for alumni networking.
Students describe this “enriching experience” as “intense, challenging, and rewarding.” According to one student, the program reliably “delivers what it promises.”
#3: Noble Desktop—UX & UI Certificate (Live Online)
Noble Desktop’s UX & UI Design Certificate begins with learning the fundamentals of UX and UI design. You will explore best practices for user-centered UX design and visual design. Learning how to conduct user research and testing, you’ll study your base of target users, make user personas, and conduct testing with users to identify potential problems.
You’ll learn to design digital projects like websites and apps. You’ll use UX software to build clickable prototypes for user testing, client review, and sharing with developers. Finally, you’ll learn how to make an online portfolio for your designs and how to develop an excellent resume.
Key Information
This is a part-time course. It lasts for 24 weeks at six hours a week. There are no prerequisites for this class. The course costs $3495. It is the same price whether you pay upfront or in 12 monthly installments.
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Noble Desktop has small class sizes and expert instructors. The bootcamp includes 1-on-1 mentoring from an experienced UX designer who will review your portfolio, help you polish your resume and LinkedIn, and give you professional advice for applying to jobs. You can retake any class for free within 1 year, and you can access recordings of classes if you have to miss them.
Students say Noble’s “teachers were excellent” and “really make learning fun.” They “felt empowered” by their coursework and said Noble’s “top-notch” instructors made it “possible to learn without any stress.”
#4: BrainStation—UX Design Bootcamp (Live Online)
BrainStation’s UX Design Bootcamp begins with a guided design sprint to introduce the basic concepts of UX design. Students then learn to perform detailed UX research and create user personas in the service of establishing a UX strategy for your product. They discover how to iterate on their designs using wireframes, and how to consider information architecture, accessibility, and usability. Next, they build and test interactive prototypes, and they learn how to incorporate user feedback from testing into a design.
After that, it becomes time to go in-depth on the design aspect. Students learn user interface design concepts and the principles of visual design. They explore how to apply design thinking across devices in the form of responsive design. In this phase, they also continue to develop their user research skills by incorporating feedback post-launch as well. Finally, they prepare for their job search, create their portfolios, and build their capstone projects.
Key Information
This course is available both full-time and part-time. The full-time bootcamp lasts 11 weeks at 40 hours a week. There are no prerequisites for this course. Upfront tuition is $16,500. BrainStation offers a monthly installment plan at $747 a month over 24 months, as well as scholarships to make the program more accessible.
The part-time bootcamp is nine months long at 14 hours a week. The same information about prerequisites and costs applies to the part-time program as well.
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BrainStation provides career mentoring, starting on day 1 of the program with goal-setting. There are also hands-on career workshops held throughout the program. Their dedicated career coach team provides 1-on-1 support for students as needed.
Students say that BrainStation’s program “changed my life!” After this UX bootcamp, they “feel ready to take on the world of UX” thanks to the confidence provided by working with BrainStation’s tight-knit community and excellent instructors.
#5: General Assembly—UX Design (Live Online)
In General Assembly’s UX Design program, students learn the methodology of user research. They employ interaction design and visual design techniques to create appealing user interfaces. After designing products, they conduct usability testing to make those products more accessible and better at serving a diverse user base. They study product team best practices and how to collaborate effectively with developers. They learn to produce documentation of their designs such as wireframes and prototypes, to better articulate their design decisions to stakeholders. They discover the worlds of design leadership, design operations, and service design. Finally, they prepare for their job search by compiling a professional portfolio with expert guidance.
Key Information
This course is available both full-time and part-time. The full-time immersive program lasts two months at 40 hours a week. There are no prerequisites for this course. If you pay tuition upfront, it costs $16,450 in full. You can also provide a $250 deposit for an income share agreement in which you start making monthly payments when you gain employment. Another option is paying in four installments of $4112.50 each. Discounts are available for members of the military and people from underrepresented groups.
The part-time option lasts two months with four hours of classes a week. There are no prerequisites for this course. Full tuition is $4500. You can also pay in two, three, or four installments, with the last option requiring as little as $1112 per payment. As with the full-time program, military officers and members of underrepresented populations can get tuition discounts.
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Students in General Assembly’s UX Design program have access to dedicated career coaching. They attend lectures and panels by professionals in the field, do career workshops, learn to develop their professional brand, practice technical interview skills, and gain networking opportunities through the program.
Alumni call General Assembly’s lessons “fantastically engaging and informative.” They say the program is “a game-changer in confidence-building, ” while the instructors are “thorough and helpful.”
#6: Flatiron School—Product Design and UX/UI Bootcamp (Live Online or On-Demand)
In Flatiron School’s UX/UI Product Design course, students will learn a design approach that is ethical and inclusive. They will discover how to do the foundational research that underpins design by formulating a strong research question and selecting the appropriate quantitative or qualitative method to answer that question. The course teaches fundamentals of design such as ideation, innovation, interaction, animation, visual composition, color, and typography. Students will explore how to design for the web through lessons in information architecture and techniques for responsive design across different types of devices. They’ll create prototypes for mobile apps they design.
Another key topic in the course is product strategy and the product life cycle so students learn how to operate under the Agile and Lean methodologies, which are common in the type of future workplace they’re likely to encounter. They’ll also study communication design for stakeholder presentations, so that they can get their ideas across in a clear and appealing manner. Finally, they’ll do a capstone project in their specialty of choice (UX Research, UX Design, or UI Design) that will form an excellent contribution to their job search portfolio.
Key Information
This course is available either full-time or part-time. The full-time bootcamp is 15 weeks long at 40 hours a week. There are no prerequisites for this course. The course costs $16,900. You can pay upfront or in 12 installments of $1400 each. Either way, you must pay a $99 deposit when you register. Scholarships are available for women and for students from underrepresented communities.
The part-time bootcamp is an on-demand course paced for completion in 40 weeks. The number of hours a week will vary depending on your schedule. There are no prerequisites for this course, and the tuition and scholarship situation is the same as for the full-time bootcamp.
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As soon as they register, students get access to a pre-work curriculum that can help them prepare for the course. For those who can’t attend every class, recordings of each class meeting are available. During the course, students will have the opportunity to attend guest lectures and virtual events. Graduates of the program receive 180 days of career services after completion. These include resume reviews, job search mentoring, and mock interviews.
Students say this program is “an amazing experience.” Instructors were “always ready and available to help, ” and the curriculum is “very thorough.”
#7: Devmountain—UX Design (Live Online)
DevMountain’s UX Design course starts off with the basic principles of what UX is and why it matters, including the key elements of empathy and discovery. Students then discover the world of UX research, including user interviews, contextual inquiries, and mapping user journeys. They’ll cover design principles and techniques such as sketching and studio design.
The course teaches the key professional skills of responsive design and how to use a style guide. Students will learn specific principles used to design for iOS and Google, and how to create prototypes for testing. They’ll study usability testing, microinteractions, and gestures, as well as accessibility and motion design. As the end of the course nears, they’ll learn about the business elements of UX design such as KPI and analytics, and discover the daily life of a UX designer at work. Finally, they’ll do two capstone projects–one individual and one group–to enhance their portfolios for the job search.
Key Information
This is a part-time course. There are no prerequisites. The cost is $7900. There are no installment plan options, scholarships, or discounts available.
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After completing the course, students have access to DevMountain’s career support team, and there are networking events they can attend as well.
Students say that DevMountain’s learning “environment is fantastic” and praise its “experienced instructors who know how to teach.” In terms of getting a job in UX Design, they state that “the value was well worth it.”
#8: Kenzie Academy—UX Design Certificate Program (Live Online)
Kenzie Academy’s UX Design Certificate course begins with the basics of design thinking and UX research. Students learn to formulate research questions and sketch out interfaces based on their research. They’ll expand their research skills by learning to identify user pain points and write interview questions that will elicit useful responses without leading. The course includes how to identify user flow and design a set of wireframes that fits with it. Students learn how to create hi-fi mockups in Figma and edit them to incorporate stakeholder feedback.
They also discover design principles such as visual hierarchy, as well as how to use whitespace, typography, and color in a design. Next, they do user testing of their mockups to create a new prototype that implements user feedback. The course also teaches business practices such as how to do design briefs, work in an Agile environment, and synthesize stakeholder feedback. Instructors guide students in what to do before handing off their designs to a development team. The end of the course focuses on industry readiness through creating a strong resume, LinkedIn profile, cover letter, and portfolio.
Key Information
This is a part-time course. It lasts nine months at 20-25 hours a week. Students must be at least 18 and have a high school diploma or equivalent. Tuition is $12,500. Kenzie Academy does not offer its own scholarships or installment plans. However, it accepts payments from federal financial aid through FAFSA and from many scholarships through other entities, including those for underrepresented groups.
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On-demand recordings of class meetings are available if students need to miss one. The course emphasizes soft skills, business practices, and career support. It is designed to emulate a first-year UX Design internship. During and after the course, students have access to an online forum community where they can connect with peers, instructors, and subject matter experts.
Graduates of this course say they appreciated the “approachable and available” instructors, who make students feel “heard and valued.”
#9: Interaction Design Foundation—UX Designer Learning Path (On-Demand)
In the first of two foundational courses for Interaction Design Foundation’s UX Designer Learning Path program, students will begin by learning what UX design is and why it is important. They’ll learn about a UX Designer’s roles and responsibilities, as well as how to navigate the UX design career path. They’ll also discover how to do task analysis, usability testing, user interviewing, and other practical aspects of a UX Designer’s role. This course is well-suited for career changes because it emphasizes how to find and apply transferable skills from your past experience.
Students will also learn how to recognize what makes for an effective experience design, as well as how to sell the importance of user experience to other business stakeholders. In the second course, they’ll explore the history and frameworks of design thinking, and how to use those frameworks to solve problems they encounter in the design process. This course also teaches how to define a design problem and ideate possible solutions to it. After that, students learn how to prototype and test those solutions. Finally, they’ll build a portfolio and other job search documents that will help them find a role in UX.
Key Information
The foundational courses described above are estimated to take about 52 hours over 16 weeks. There are no prerequisites. You can take any Interaction Design Foundation course for a monthly membership fee of $16, paid on a yearly basis. There are no installment plans, discounts, or scholarships available.
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Interaction Design Foundation courses are recognized by employers as industry-standard and up-to-date because the organization was created by Don Norman, the originator of UX design. As such, the course certificates they offer are a notably meaningful credential for your job search. They also hold networking events for UX designers in 486 cities worldwide.
Students praise the “quality of the curriculum, ” which makes it easy to build a “well-structured portfolio” for job search purposes, making these courses “the best choice out there” for on-demand UX design training.
#10: DesignLab—UX Academy (On-demand)
DesignLab’s UX Academy program begins with a foundations course, which provides introductions to fundamental principles of visual design and user interface (UI) design. Once the foundations course is completed, the next step in the program is UX Academy itself. Students will start by practicing research methods such as user interviews, then synthesize the results of that research into actionable insights that they can apply in their design process. They’ll learn to use brainstorming techniques to come up with a varied and creative set of solutions to a design problem. Next, they’ll study information architecture, content strategy, navigational design, SEO (search engine optimization), and sitemap diagramming.
The course also teaches interaction design, including task flows and user flows, as well as how to make their designs usable, accessible, and inclusive. They’ll learn how to create responsive wireframes using a mobile-first approach so that their designs will work across different devices and sizes of screen. Moving on to user interface design, students will explore visual design principles, including elements like branding, iconography, color theory, and typography. They’ll create high-fidelity prototypes for their design projects, which they will test with users and iterate before settling on a final design. At that point, they’ll learn how to prepare a design for handoff to the developers. In the last phase of the course, they’ll do job search prep, including portfolio design, and complete their capstone projects. The three capstone projects include one in responsive design, one addition of a feature to an existing product, and one end-to-end mobile application design.
Key Information
The initial UX Foundations course is designed to take four to eight weeks, with a minimum time commitment of 10 hours a week. The UX Academy course will take 15 weeks if pursued full-time or 30 weeks if pursued part-time. There is no prerequisite for the UX Foundations course, and that course is the only prerequisite for the UX Academy course. The foundations course has a tuition of $499, which is applied to the cost of the UX Academy course if the student moves on to it after completing the foundations course. With this credit applied, the tuition for the UX Academy course is $7249. You can pay upfront or on a six-month payment plan with five payments of $1200 and one payment of $1250.
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Unlike most on-demand courses, DesignLab’s UX courses come with up to 30 1-on-1 sessions with a designated mentor, who can guide you throughout your UX studies. Students also receive written feedback on their submissions for the course. After the course is complete, students receive 26 weeks of career support from DesignLab, including a free weekly coaching session where they can get feedback on their resume, practice for interviews, and learn how to negotiate a job offer. They can also access networking opportunities through DesignLab for life.
Students praise this “engaging, exciting course, ” which they “highly recommend for anyone looking to transition to UX.” The program’s mentors have “a wealth of knowledge” to share with the students.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are the Different Types of Online UX Design Classes?
There are two main types of online UX design classes, live online and on-demand.
The most effective learning strategy tends to be live online. In a live online course, you have an expert instructor who provides the structure for your studies, providing you with real-time access to feedback, guidance, and advice from an expert. There are scheduled online classes that you attend via videoconferencing, and typically homework to complete outside of class.
On-demand courses provide you with materials that you can use to study on your own schedule. These are typically more affordable than live online courses, but they also require a lot of self-discipline. It can be difficult to stick to a study schedule without the structure provided by designated class times and a set schedule and a set schedule for assignments. But if you are self-motivated and have a busy schedule, on-demand classes could be a good fit for you.
Some courses are also available on-demand for free or very low-cost. These are a good way to get an introduction to the material, but you’ll want to make sure that you choose materials from a reliable source that are recent enough to be up-to-date.
What Will I Need for an Online UX Design Class?
You will need a computer with an internet connection. For live online courses, it will be helpful if your internet connection is strong and reliable, so that it doesn’t get interrupted during class time. Having a recent computer with sufficient memory and processing for the software you need to use is also important, but there is no standard requirement for the computer you need across types of programs.
For UX design, you may be asked to use software including Figma, Sketch, or Adobe XD. You can download these programs before your course begins, but you may want to wait on setting up an account, since your school may be able to get you access to certain paid features for free if you sign up through them when you start. If your UX design program also includes front-end development, you’ll need a code editor in which you can write your programs in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Microsoft Visual Studio Code is a great code editor for beginners.
Can I Learn UX Design Online for Free?
It is certainly possible to teach yourself the basic concepts that underpin UX design through free resources like online tutorials or videos on YouTube. However, if you’re looking to pursue UX design as a career, these materials will not be sufficient. Also, software like Figma and Adobe XD may have free trials that you can use at first, but you will eventually need to pay for a subscription. So free resources can provide a good way to get started, but your progress will be limited if you do not eventually invest in your UX design education.
Is It Better to Learn UX Design in a Live or Self-paced Class?
Live online and on-demand UX design training each have their advantages. The greatest benefit of live classes is that they are interactive, which makes them more engaging. When you work directly with an instructor, you can ask questions as they come up, get feedback on the work you produce, and ask for guidance when you build portfolio projects. Real-time training is also good for connecting with your peers who are on the same path. Plus, live classes provide deadlines and a set learning structure, which helps students organize their time as they pursue their studies
The main advantages of on-demand learning are that it is affordable and flexible. If you don’t currently have the means to invest a lot of financial resources in your education, on-demand materials can be a good way to get started. And for those who have especially busy schedules, it can be easier to fit in on-demand learning that is self-paced and doesn’t require being available at a specific time. However, students who elect the on-demand option won’t be able to get clarification, feedback, or guidance from an expert instructor. It is also sometimes the case that on-demand materials are outdated, especially when key software for the course are updated after the materials are produced.