These websites and apps will function best if they are intuitive, engaging, and helpful to the user. Thus, a lot of companies are hiring UX Designers. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ projection for 2021-2031 is that 45,400 UX Design jobs will be added to the economy over that time.
In addition to being a profitable field that provides job security, it can also make it possible for you to grow in your current field or expand into a new role. In addition, the design aspects provide UXers with outlets for their creativity, and the opportunity to collaborate with a team to produce something they are proud of. Plus, a great user experience always makes people’s day better, so UX design is rewarding on that level as well.
The #10 Best On-Demand UX Design Classes
- Coursera—Google UX Design Professional Certificate
- Coursera—CalArts UX/UI Design Specialization
- Interaction Design Foundation—UX Designer Learning Path
- DesignLab—UX Academy
- Udemy—UX & Web Design Master Course
- CareerFoundry—UX Design Program
- Flatiron School—Learn UX/UI Design
- Springboard—UI/UX Design
- Thinkful—UX/UI Design Bootcamp
- Avocademy—UX/UI Design Program
#1: Coursera—Google UX Design Professional Certificate
Coursera’s popular UX Design Professional Certificate, created by Google, allows students to explore the design thinking process in full. They learn the process of empathizing with users and defining user pain points. And they discover how to ideate solutions to the problems they have defined. The course includes using Figma to create wireframes, as well as low-fidelity and high-fidelity clickable prototypes that they can employ for user testing. Students also iterate on their designs after user testing.
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With this certificate, students learn to apply concepts that are fundamental to UX. These include accessibility, equity-focused design, and user-centered design. UX research is also central to this course. It includes planning research studies, conducting interviews and usability studies, and synthesizing the results of their research. Over the course of their studies, they will create a professional UX portfolio that includes a mobile app, a responsive website, and a cross-platform user experience.
Key Information
This course is designed to last six months at ten hours a week. There are no prerequisites for this course. To take the course, you will need a Coursera Plus subscription, which costs $59 a month.
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Completing the course and final exam brings a professional certificate recognized by employers. You will receive access to free resume review, interview prep, and career support upon completion.
Students say the course was “very enriching” and that they “learn a lot” about “the magic of UX.”
#2: Coursera—CalArts UX/UI Design Specialization
Another popular and high-quality Coursera certificate is the CalArts UX/UI Design Specialization.
This course begins with user interface design. Students learn to employ elements like color, type, and imagery to create an attractive, intuitive, and engaging interface. They then move on to the structuring and organization of content to create a positive user experience, discovering the process from ideation to prototyping. And they produce a digital prototype of a multi-screen mobile app.
The next course covers information architecture, including defining the strategy, scope, and content of a website. Then, students learn to apply user research to the creation of user interfaces. They explore responsive web design, the mobile-first approach, the relationship between design and programming, and the many languages and technologies that make the web possible.
Key Information
This course is designed to take four months at five hours a week. There are no prerequisites. To take the course, you will need a Coursera Plus subscription, which costs $59 a month.
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Students say they learn “compelling strategies” that give them skills they find “crucial” in their work after completing the course. The practical applications allow students to put their skills to use, which makes them “feel more real.”
#3: Interaction Design Foundation—UX Designer Learning Path
The UX Design Learning Path program from Interaction Design Foundation is particularly well-suited for career changers because it devotes significant attention to finding and applying the transferable skills students gained in their past experience. The course starts with discovering what UX design actually is and why the discipline is important. Next, it covers the roles and responsibilities of a UX designer. It also provides guidance about navigating the career path of a UX designer and persuading business stakeholders that user experience is important.
Students then learn about user interviewing, task analysis, usability testing, and other daily activities of a UX designer. They discover how to identify the elements of a high-quality experience design. And they explore design thinking, particularly its history and the frameworks it provides, as well as how they can use those frameworks as problem-solving tools during the design process. The course also covers how UX designers define a design problem and ideate its possible solutions. Next, it addresses making prototypes of draft designs and conducting user testing to gain feedback they can incorporate into a final design. The course concludes with students building a portfolio and creating other documents they’ll need for their UX job search.
Key Information
The estimated timeline for the foundational courses described above is about 52 hours over 16 weeks. The courses have no prerequisites. Students may take any course with the Interaction Design Foundation for a monthly membership fee of $16, which they pay on a yearly basis. The Foundation does not offer scholarships, discounts, or installment plans.
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A significant advantage of taking courses from the Interaction Design Foundation is that employers recognize them as industry-standard and up-to-date, due to the Foundation’s association with Don Norman, the creator of UX design. Thus, a course certificate from this program can serve as a particularly useful credential when you are searching for a UX job. Networking events for UX Designers are available to IDF students in 486 cities worldwide.
Students say that this is “the best choice out there” for on-demand UX study due to the “quality of the curriculum” and the guidance that allows students to create a “well-structured portfolio” to showcase their skills for potential employers.
#4: DesignLab—UX Academy
The UX Academy program from DesignLab starts off with a course in UX foundations. This section gives students an introduction to the fundamental principles that underlie visual design and user interface (UI) design. After they complete the foundations course, students gain access to the UX academy program itself.
The course begins with central UX research methods like user interviews. Next, students discover how to transform their research results into actionable insights for the design process. They learn the ideation techniques that make it possible to generate a creative and diverse set of possible solutions to the design problem they have identified through their research. The course then moves on to high-level concepts within UX design such as content strategy and information architecture.
Students also explore more granular aspects of web design such as sitemap diagramming, SEO, and navigational design. And they study interaction design, including aspects like user flows and task flows. They learn how to make designs that are usable, inclusive, and accessible. Students also explore the principles of visual design such as typography, iconography, and color theory, as well as the branding that these elements can make up.
As they begin to create actual designs, students will use a mobile-first approach to create wireframes that can be responsive across different devices and screen sizes. Next, they’ll make high-fidelity prototypes to employ for user testing. After the testing, they incorporate user feedback and iterate the design until it is polished and ready to hand off to developers.
The course’s final phase includes job search prep, portfolio design, and the completion of three capstone projects: a responsive design, an end-to-end mobile app design, and a new design feature that can be added to an existing web product.
Key Information
The time commitment for the initial UX Foundations course is four to eight weeks at ten hours a week. For the UX Academy course that follows, students should expect to spend 15 weeks full-time or 30 weeks part-time. The UX Foundations course has no prerequisites, and that course is the only prerequisite to begin UX Academy. Tuition for the foundations course is $499, but that fee is applied to the cost of the UX Academy course if the student proceeds to take it. Applying this credit brings the tuition for the UX Academy course to $7249. Students may pay upfront, or they may establish a six-month payment plan, which involves five payments of $1200 and one payment of $1250.
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What makes DesignLab’s UX courses stand out from most other on-demand programs is that they include up to 30 1-on-1 sessions with a mentor who can provide guidance during one’s studies. It also provides written feedback from experts on the designs that students submit. Once they have finished the UX Academy course, students get 26 weeks of career support. This includes a free coaching session each week. In the session, students can get resume feedback, do mock interviews, and learn how to conduct salary negotiations. They also have lifelong access to networking opportunities through DesignLab.
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 “highly recommend” this “engaging, exciting” course for “anyone looking to transition to UX.” They praise the “wealth of knowledge” that DesignLab mentors have to share with them in their sessions.
#5: Udemy—UX & Web Design Master Course
The UX & Web Design Master Course from Udemy focuses equally on strategy, design, and development, with an emphasis on driving sales conversions. Students discover the benefits of good UX, as well as the fundamental principles used to determine whether a user experience is effective. They grow to understand how they can apply UX principles to the websites they design. This allows them to make informed decisions about which information should be included to maximize the site’s effectiveness, based on the user needs they’ve identified as problems that bring users to their site. And they learn how to code a range of websites in HTML, CSS, and WordPress, among other tools.
The course starts off with the basic principles of UX design. Students learn how to conduct research to identify user needs, and how to square those needs with the requirements coming from the business side. They discover how to organize content on their website using the central concepts of information architecture and content strategy. Next, they learn how to design an effective user interface through fundamental principles of visual design. The course concludes with how to code a B2B (business-to-business) sales website using various languages and tools.
Key Information
The course includes 23.5 hours of on-demand video. Udemy does not provide an estimate for how long the course will take to complete. There are no prerequisites for this course. The price of access to this and other premium Udemy courses is $129.99 a year or $16.58 a month, after a free trial. Udemy does not offer scholarships, discounts, or installment plans.
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Students say this course is “fantastic” and provides a “wealth of information.” It’s especially good for “those looking to start a new career.”
#6: CareerFoundry—UX Design Program
The UX Design Program from CareerFoundry has three stages: Intro to UX Design, UX Design Immersion, and Specialization.
In the first stage, students explore the design thinking process and the fundamental principles of user experience. They conduct user research and build user personas. Next, they instruct information architecture to satisfy that need. Design follows, first with wireframes and then with detailed prototypes for user testing. Students then design a plan for usability testing. They learn how to present their designs to stakeholders. At the end of this stage, they map out a personalized plan for their UX education.
The next stage is a deep dive into UX. Students study the role of a UX Designer, the history of user experience, and the human needs and motivations that underpin the psychology of UX design. They discover the user-centered design process and learn more about design thinking. They discover how to identify a problem and conduct a competitive analysis to see how other businesses are addressing it. They learn about working with others in a business environment, including Lean vs. Agile strategies for UX and how to make their designs fit business requirements. This section finishes with user stories and a portfolio review.
For the final course, students choose a specialization and complete a project within that specialized field. The available specializations are voice user interface design, UI for UX Designers, and front-end development for designers.
Key Information
This on-demand series of courses is designed to take 5 months at 30-40 hours a week or 10 months at 15-20 hours a week. The program has no prerequisites. Students can pay a tuition of $7110 upfront, or $7900 divided into 10 monthly payments with $1400 down. A deferred payment plan is also available. Tuition reduction is available for military veterans.
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This program comes with a team of support personnel that includes a mentor, a tutor, a student advisor, and a career specialist. CareerFoundry has a “dual mentorship system.” The designated mentor provides career insights, portfolio guidance, and job search mentorship. Meanwhile, the tutor gives constructive feedback on the student’s day-to-day work with a 24-hour turnaround. Once students are six months into the program, they can opt into a job prep course, which starts them off working with a career specialist who will continue to support them in their job search for up until six months after they graduate.
Students say the program is “easy to follow, super-intensive, and full of one-on-one support.” They found that the “tutor and mentor are super responsive, ” and the program “preps you for the real-world” as a UX Designer.
#7: Flatiron School—Learn UX/UI Design
The on-demand Learn UX/UI course from Flatiron School introduces students to an ethical, inclusive approach to design. First, they learn techniques for the user research that is fundamental to UX design. This starts with formulating an effective research question, then selecting the right qualitative or quantitative research method that will allow them to answer that question through user research. Next, students discover the central principles of user interface (UI) and UX design, including visual composition, color, typography, animation, interaction, innovation, and ideation. They learn about information architecture and how it can underpin techniques for responsive design across sizes of screen and types of devices. And they implement this knowledge by beginning to design a mobile app and creating a prototype for user testing.
This course also emphasizes product strategy and the lifecycle of product design. Students learn how to work under the Lean and Agile project management methodologies, as these are common in the types of workplaces that seek to employ UX Designers. They also study principles of effective communication design, which will allow them to present their ideas to stakeholders in an engaging and lucid way. The course concludes with a capstone project in the student’s specialty of choice, which may be UX research, UX design, or UI design. Students learn how to frame this capstone project as part of an excellent portfolio for their job search.
Key Information
This on-demand course is paced for completion in 40 weeks. Flatiron does not provide an estimated number of hours per week. There are no prerequisites for this course. Tuition for the course is $16,900. Students may pay upfront or in 12 installments of $1400 each. Registration requires a $99 deposit. Flatiron offers scholarships for women and for students from underrepresented communities.
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Once students register, the school provides them with access to a pre-work curriculum designed to help them prepare for the course. Program graduates get 180 days of career services after they complete the course. These services include job search mentoring, resume reviews, and mock interviews.
Students describe Flatiron’s curriculum as “very thorough” and the course as “an amazing experience.
#8: Springboard—UI/UX Design
Springboard’s UX/UI Design Career Track is a project-based program that focuses on developing a design thinking mindset in its students. They learn how to influence the way that users engage with the web technologies offered by a business.
First, students conduct user research to identify a problem to solve with their designs. They examine how other companies have tried to solve the same problem as a competitive analysis. Then, students ideate and sketch out possible solutions to the design problems they have identified. They create wireframes and then high-fidelity mockups of their designs. After turning these mockups into prototypes, they do user testing for usability to identify possible improvements. Students also learn the elements of user interface (UI) design and how to create patterns and interactions that improve the user experience. After building their portfolios, students then do a four-week externship with a real-world client to gain experience.
Key Information
This course is designed to take 9 months. Springboard does not specify how many hours a week the student should expect to invest. There are no prerequisites for this course. Tuition is $11,900.
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Springboard is known for its job guarantee, which offers a refund if the student does not get a job within six months of graduation–subject to specific terms, which prospective students should read carefully. The school offers 1-on-1 mentoring throughout the program. Students also have access to a career coach and a student advisor.
According to its students, Springboard provides a “structured and supportive learning experience.” Its career coaches do “a great job preparing you for the job search, ” and the instructors are “experienced and helpful.”
#9: Thinkful—UX/UI Design Bootcamp
The on-demand UX/UI Design Bootcamp from Thinkful begins with fundamental UX design concepts such as user research, interaction, and usability. First, they explore how to create and implement a user research plan. They then learn how to design wireframes and build the hi-fi prototypes that make user testing possible. The class also covers branding and other visual design components.
Students do a hands-on project that allows them to work with a real client as they gain experience with practical design and stakeholder communication. They also create a capstone design, for which they independently complete a design process for the project of their choice. Ultimately, the course serves to help students build case studies for an impressive portfolio that will allow them to show off their work to prospective future employers.
Key Information
This program is designed to be a 6-month course at 20-25 hours a week. There are no prerequisites. If paid for upfront, the course costs $12,350. You can also do month-to-month payments, and it is possible to get tuition deferred as well. Women, non-binary people, and veterans can get modest discounts on tuition.
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Personalized career coaching is available to Thinkful students through this program. Support includes individual and group career sessions, career Q&As, and workshops based on career-focused themes. Students also get resume writing support, mock behavioral and technical interviews, and curated technological content for extra study purposes. And they receive support from dedicated learning assistants and mentoring from expert UX designers.
Students say that while this program is challenging, “it pays off” because “you will come away with the skills needed” to become a professional UX Designer. These words come from a student who “accepted an offer for an amazing position” after doing this program at Thinkful.
#10: Avocademy—UX/UI Design Program
The UX/UI Design Program at Avocademy starts with an introduction to the design thinking process, as well as the basic tools and roles of UX and user interface (UI) design. Students then learn how to define a user problem that their designs can solve. They discover UX research, including research methods, making a research plan, the practicalities of conducting research, and synthesizing results. Next, they explore ideation techniques, including problem statements, user stories, and sketching out possible solutions.
The course then proceeds to the elements of information architecture, including site maps, navigation, and user flows. Students make wireframes for their designs before proceeding to the UI principles that will help them make their first mockups. They discover how to follow style guides, branding guides, and accessibility guidelines. Next, they create mockups and then prototypes for user testing. They learn how to do both moderated and remote user testing. Finally, they turn their designs into case studies for a high-quality portfolio.
Key Information
This is designed to be an 8-week program at 14 hours a week. There are no prerequisites for this course. Tuition is $2997 paid upfront, or students can choose an installment plan of 6,12, or 36 months.
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Avocademy offers unlimited 1-on-1 mentoring sessions with professional UX designers on a flexible schedule.
Students find this course “excellent and accessible” and say it has had “high impact results” for their UX careers. Instructors are “very empathetic” and “make learning easy and fun.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an On-demand UX Design Class Worth It?
The value of an on-demand UX design class will depend on the student’s learning style. For a disciplined self-starter who can keep themselves on track without external prompting, studying through on-demand materials can be a good option, especially if they have a busy schedule that is hard to fit classes into. However, for students who benefit from the structure and deadlines provided by a formal class, on-demand UX learning may not be as effective. Regardless of the student, too, on-demand classes lack the advantage of real-time instruction from an expert in the field who can offer guidance, feedback, and clarification during the learning process.
What Will I Need for an On-demand UX Design Class?
You will certainly need a computer with an internet connection. Most likely, you will also need access to common UX design software like Figma, AdobeXD, and Sketch. Note that while free trials are often available for UX tools, you will typically have to get a subscription after a certain period of time.
Can I Learn UX Design On-demand for Free?
You can certainly teach yourself the fundamental concepts of UX design using free resources like YouTube videos or tutorials online. For those who seek to pursue UX design as a career, however, these materials will not be enough for you to learn what you need to know. And while software like AdobeXD, Figma, and Sketch do have free trials that you can start with, you ultimately will need to pay for a subscription to these tools. Thus, free resources can get you started, but you will only get so far without making a financial investment in your study of UX design.
Is It Better to Learn UX Design in a Live or Self-paced Class?
There are different advantages to live online vs. on-demand UX design training. Live classes are interactive and therefore more engaging for many students. Working directly with an instructor makes it possible to ask questions as they arise, receive feedback on your work, and get guidance over time as you build your final portfolio. Another helpful aspect of real-time training is the connections you can create with peers who are making the same journey. In addition, live online classes give you a set learning structure and specific deadlines, which can help you organize your time in the pursuit of your UX design studies.
On-demand learning has the significant advantage of being affordable and flexible. For those who are not able to invest sizable financial resources in their studies, on-demand materials can provide a good place to get going on their study of UX. When students have busy schedules, too, they may find it easier to make on-demand suit their schedule because it is self-paced and allows them to avoid having to be available at a specific time. However, they will miss out on the benefit of an expert instructor’s guidance, clarification, and feedback. Occasionally, too, on-demand materials will be out of date, especially if important software tools are updated after the materials come out.