User Experience (UX) design is the component of web design projects that accounts for how a digital interface feels when a user interacts with it. UX Designers are responsible for testing user interfaces and iterating upon designs to ensure that the completed product is accessible, easy to use, and responsive. As more and more aspects of our daily lives center around web technology, screens, and user interfaces, it is increasingly important that these designs are built with maximum usability in mind. Unlike more aspects of digital design, UX Designers primarily focus on user testing, behavior research, and theory rather than looking at a design from a creative perspective. UX design is a largely qualitative practice, and aspiring UX Designers will need to learn the best practices for testing, prototyping, and iterating on interfaces.
Noble Desktop’s UX & UI Design Certificate
Key information: Live online or in-person training program held either 6 weeks full-time or 4 months part-time. The program includes additional 1-on-1 mentoring, a free retake, and job support.Â
Noble Desktop offers students a comprehensive UX & UI Design Certificate program that teaches students how to design user interfaces using industry-standard tools and how to test and iterate upon those designs using foundational UX design principles. This course offers a hands-on approach to learning how to design user experiences, starting with the planning and design phase. Students will learn how to use Figma, an industry-standard user interface design application, to build layouts for user interfaces using time-tested design principles that Noble covers in this course. Then, students will take advantage of Figma’s built-in prototyping features to create working sample web applications (with limited JavaScript functionality) that they can give to users to gather real-world feedback on their designs.
Once students are comfortable with the process of designing a webpage that looks attractive, they will begin learning how to test those designs and gather feedback from users. Effective user feedback testing is more complicated than just handing your interface to strangers and asking them how they feel. UX Designers enrolled in this course will learn how to perform effective user testing and how to properly sample users to produce actionable results. Students will learn how to run A/B tests, proctor focus groups and design surveys. In addition, students will learn how to process and communicate user feedback to invested stakeholders in a way that makes this information useful. Users aren’t always the best judges of what they actually want, so skilled UX Designers will need to parse user feedback and find ways to make that feedback useful for other designers and developers.
Learn UX Design
- Live & Hands-on
- In NYC or Online
- Learn From Experts
- Free Retake
- Small Class Sizes
- Certificate of Completion
This certificate-granting program focuses on teaching students the practical career skills that they will need to find work as professional User Experience Designers. The course lessons all focus on the practical, real-world application of UX principles and theories, which can help designers gather and process user feedback more effectively. Students will also learn how to account for the practical difficulties of user interviews, focus groups, and other interpersonal interactions with the public. Beyond teaching practical career skills, the course also provides students with professional development opportunities that will help students produce significantly more competitive job materials. A key part of the capstone of the course is a portfolio development project that will help students prepare sample designs to impress prospective employers and set their applications apart from their competitors. Students who enroll in the course will also be able to take advantage of one-on-one career mentorship sessions with Noble’s experienced UX design professionals. Finally, students who enroll in this class will have the option to retake the course (at no charge) at any time within a year, giving them even more opportunities to practice their craft.
Nielsen Norman Group: UX Design Certificate
Key Information: Hybrid training and certification exam provider. Three different certificate tracks, comprising five or fifteen one-day courses and a corresponding exam. Students will be free to build their own curriculum.
As industry leaders in the field of research-based user design, the Nielsen Norman Group offers industry-recognized UX Design Certification exams and certificate-granting programs. Students will be able to build their own curriculum by selecting for NNG’s 50+ specialty UX Design classes which cover topics such as data analytics and user experience, design trade-offs and UX decision-making, ethnographic UX research, and meta-courses such as a workshop on facilitating UX design workshops. These detailed lessons will let students craft their own UX design education, and NNG helpfully divides these courses into specializations that will help students learn the practical skills they need to find work in research, user interaction, or management roles. Each of these courses lasts approximately one day and after completing the course, students will have 35 days to complete an exam gauging their skills mastery. Students who pass these exams will move one step closer to earning their certification.
NNG offers three major paths to certification: Their UX Certification track, UX specialization track, and UX Master Certification track. The only major difference between these tracks is the number of courses and the kinds of courses that you will be expected to complete to earn your certification. Students interested in earning a UX Certification or a UX Specialized Certification will need to complete five classes and pass five exams. The only difference is that a UX Certification can be completed by passing any five courses, helping students become well-rounded designers, while a UX Specialization Certification requires students to complete five courses in the same specialty track. The UX Master Certification requires students to complete 15 courses and pass 15 exams. Prices and time commitment will vary depending on the specific collection of courses a student opts to enroll in, but NNG estimates that a UX Certification will take students about 30+ hours to complete while a Master Certification will take over 100 hours.
Google UX Design Certificate
Key Takeaways: Asynchronous, on-demand video modules. Consists of over 200 hours of online content. Students working part-time (10 hours per week) are expected to finish in six months. Career services available to graduates.
Offered through the Coursera platform, Google offers a robust UX Design Certificate program for students looking to learn the practices and theories that Google designers apply when building and testing user interfaces. This is a robust training program that includes over 200 hours of video content and hands-on assignments that will guide students through all major aspects of the UX design process. Students will learn to follow Google’s UX design process, which they frame as empathizing with users, defining pain points, ideating solutions, creating wireframes and prototypes, and testing and iterating on designs. By the end of the course, students will know how to take a UX design project from start to completion. This course aims to teach students practical, transferable skills that they can utilize in any design project.
The course is largely self-paced, giving students the chance to learn UX design skills on their own schedule. Accordingly, the time it takes to complete the course will vary depending on a student’s own time commitment, but Google estimates that students will complete the program in approximately six months if they work on material for ten hours a week. The course covers practical design skills using Figma and Adobe XD, so students will need to acquire those applications. Students who complete the course will be to take advantage of Google’s career services and resource program, gaining access to resume review, interview preparation, and career support services.
Figma Academy
Key Takeaways: Dedicated Figma training program. Asynchronous courses are offered with lifetime access to course materials. Six major modules.
An alternative route to becoming certified in UX design is to become certified in specific user interface design tools such as Figma. The Figma Academy offers a comprehensive introduction to UX and UI design skills using the application. This course aims to provide students with a detailed education in the use of Figma for design and testing purposes. The course emphasizes the collaborative features available in Figma and the ways in which the tool can be used to streamline and improve the design process. The course also aims to teach students how to design interfaces that account for other steps in the product design process, including an emphasis on what needs to be done to prepare a project for development.
This course offers a more complete UX and UI design education for students hoping to work on interface development projects. While these skills are transferable between tasks, the main focus of the instruction is on the different kinds of work that students can do with Figma. This course will cover UX design skills, but it will also teach theories of visual composition, user interface design, and prototyping skills that aim to assist in the developer hand-off process. Students who imagine that they will be making significant use of Figma or who think that they will likely work on all elements of an interface design project should consider enrolling in this course.
ECornell: User Experience Design
Key Information: Live online, part-time instruction. Students will be expected to work between 4 and 6 hours per week. The course runs for approximately five months.
ECornell, the online continuing education program offered through Cornell University, offers a User Experience Design Certificate program for students looking to learn UX design skills. This fully online course aims to teach students the practical skills and theoretical approaches involved in user experience design projects, and the course aims to teach students how to prioritize human-centered design essentials so that professional designers remember for whom they are building interfaces. The course then segues into lessons on effective design and research methodologies, aiming to ensure that students' research work is effective, well-designed, and ethically sound. By the end of the program, students will have an understanding of all of the major elements of UX design workflow and they will be prepared to start working in the field.
This is a live, instructor-led course that runs for a few months in a part-time scheduling format. Students will be expected to attend courses for less than ten hours a week, making this an ideal program for students looking to learn UX design skills without investing all their time into their training. During the program, students will develop their own research models and test cases and they will prototype and iterate on a practical user interface application. These materials can then be used as part of a student’s job materials since the coursework all mirrors practical, real-world design projects.
The New School: User-Centered Design (UX/UI) Certificate
Key Information: Hybrid modality online program that is expected to take approximately 18 months to complete part-time. Enrolled students will receive personalized career support.
The New School’s continuing & professional education program offers a comprehensive hybrid online User-Centered Design (UX/UI) Certificate program. This course will give students first-hand experience designing and executing research plans, brainstorming design ideas and prototyping those designs for practical testing purposes. Students will learn how to perform individual user testing sessions and how to build complex stability and user behavior studies that they can apply to current and future projects. Students will leave the course with practical knowledge of the major stages of the UX design process, including the early development stages and the process of iteration and revision. This course aims to provide students with the skills they need to work as professional UX Designers and students who complete the program will leave with practical knowledge and real-world design projects that demonstrate their proficiency.
This course is taught in a hybrid modality, so students will receive their lessons through pre-recorded seminars that they can access on their own time and live, guided workshops that give them the chance to collaborate with one another on complex design projects. The course covers five distinct lessons ranging from lessons on the history of UX design principles to research methodologies to practical UX/UI design portfolio-building seminars. While each student will approach the course at their own pace, The New School anticipates that the average student will complete the program in 18 months of part-time study. By the end of the program, students will have completed a practical web design project that they can add to their portfolio and they will receive an official certificate of completion from the program.
HFI: Certified User Experience Analyst (CXA)â„¢
Key Information: Full-time, ten-day training program. The program includes consultations with professional UX Designers.
Human Factors International offers a collection of UX design certificates, including their Certified User Experience Analyst (CXA)â„¢ training program. In this course, students will learn proprietary UX design principles and strategies that HFI considers to be essential to successful design projects. Students will learn how to consider issues of persuasion design, omni-channel strategy, and PET (Persuasion, Emotion, Trust)â„¢ architecture design. These specialized lessons will give students a unique perspective on practical and theoretical UX design goals and steps. Students will be able to consult with professional UX Designers working for Fortune 500 companies and they can learn the real-world UX design skills that professionals employ in their daily workflow.
This accelerated, full-time course runs for approximately two weeks at a time. The course covers four major sections dedicated to teaching students the principles of HFI’s PET™ design principles and their omni-strategy and innovation techniques. This is a highly-regarded certification-granting institution, and students interested in learning specific theoretical techniques for designing user experiences should strongly consider the program. Students looking for professional accreditation that will signal to employers that they are ready to build mature, sustainable user experiences in a fairly specific theoretical framework will benefit from enrolling in a program like this.
General Assembly: User Experience Design Immersive
Key Information: In-person or online full-time career-training program. Program lasts approximately three months. Career support and money-back job guarantee included.
General Assembly offers both in-person and online instruction options for its User Experience Design Immersive certificate program. This professional development certificate program aims to teach students the practical skills that they will need to start working on real-world user experience design projects. While in this course, students will receive professional instruction in user experience foundations and principles, iteration and development processes, real-world testing scenarios, and working with other members of a product team. Over the course of this certificate-program, students will learn transferable career skills that can be applied to any UX design project and they will get hands-on experience designing UX interfaces, testing those interfaces, and iterating upon them. By the end of the program, students will have a working portfolio of sample designs that they can take with them onto the job market.
Not only will General Assembly students receive top-quality UX design training, they will also have access to the career resources offered through the provider. Students enrolled in these courses can work directly with a General Assembly career coach who can help them set goals, stay motivated, and produce job materials. Students will also be able to participate in valuable networking sessions hosted through the program, even if they are online-only students. The course also covers practical job training skills such as project documentation and research synthesis, which are important skills for professional UX Designers to have when they start looking for jobs.
CareerFoundry: UX Design Program
Key Information: Online, asynchronous certificate program. Students are anticipated to complete the program in approximately 5 months of full-time work or 12 months of part-time work. Career support services available post graduation.
CareerFoundry offers an online, hybrid scheduled UX Design Program with a built-in job guarantee. This professional development program will teach students practical user experience design principles and skills that they can apply to various product development projects. Students will get hands-on experience building, testing and iterating on user interfaces. The course begins with students learning background theories and principles of design and research such as who to conduct research, build user personas, and analyze information architecture. Then, students will start applying this knowledge to real-world projects using applications like Figma to build and test UX prototypes. Once students have completed the introduction and have begun working on practical projects they will further specialize in elective courses covering subjects like voice interface design, UI for UX Designers, or front-end development.
This course is delivered through on-demand, pre-recorded video content, though students enrolled will be paired with a career mentor and advisor who will work to keep them on the path toward success. Students will be expected to work on course material for approximately ten to fifteen hours a week if they aim to pass the course within one year, though students can study at a more full-time pace to accelerate this process. Students will also receive tailored mentorship and coaching from their advisor, who can assist with everything from providing feedback on designs to helping prepare job letters and applications. CareerFoundry offers a six-month, full guarantee that graduates can find a job as UX Designers.
Design Lab: UX Academy
Key Information: Hybrid online certificate program. Students are expected to complete the program in 15 weeks at 40/hrs a week or 20 weeks at 20/hr a week. Career services available post-graduation.
Design Lab’s UX Academy offers students a flexible way to receive a UX design certificate and prepare themselves for a career as a UX Designer. This asynchronous program teaches students the foundational principles of user experience design, including how to conduct user research, how to prepare research strategies and how to translate user feedback into actionable solutions. Once students are comfortable with this training, they spend the remaining fifteen weeks of the course building a personalized portfolio of projects that includes working web applications and other UX designs that they can use to demonstrate their proficiency to prospective employers. These are open-ended capstone projects that give students a chance to develop and iterate on designs that align with their interests.
This course uses an asynchronous delivery model, so that students can learn UX design skills at their own pace. Design Labs estimates that the course will take full-time participants about fifteen weeks, while part-time participants putting in twenty hours a week will take about thirty weeks. The program comprises over 100 individual lessons and nearly 100 hands-on projects. The course is open to students with no prior design experience and offers them a chance to learn the foundational principles of UX design. After completing the course, students will have 26 weeks of access to Design Lab’s career support services, including weekly personal coaching sessions with a dedicated mentor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Difference Between a Certificate and a Certification?
Many students may not be aware that certificates and certifications are not the same things (although some service providers and webpages will use the terms interchangeably). They are both ways of demonstrating your proficiency with UX design skills and applications, but they demonstrate this gauge of proficiency in different ways. Certifications are awarded to students who pass a sit-down exam that tests their UX design knowledge and practical skills. These exams, which third-party test-taking companies usually proctor, gauge whether or not a UX Designer can adequately demonstrate their abilities and meet the minimum requirements to receive a certification. Most exams take under two hours, and many of these certifications require students to retake the exam every few years to keep their certification current.
Certificates are most comparable to diplomas since they are awarded to students who pass industry-recognized training programs. These courses provide students with the hands-on UX design training and experience they need to find work in the field. Depending on the program, a student may need no prior knowledge to complete the program, whereas anyone looking to pass a certification exam will need substantial prior experience. These courses tend to come with significant time and financial investments, but most of them are designed with professional development training in mind, making them ideal options for students who are looking to change their career paths. Students who receive training in a certificate-granting program will also likely be developing the skills necessary to pass a certification exam.
Do I Need to Get Certified to Find a Job?
While requirements will vary from job listing to job listing, the answer is likely to be no, you won’t need to be certified to find a job as a UX Designer. However, becoming certified does carry with it several benefits. Certified UX Designers will find that their job applications are more competitive than non-certified designers and, as such, they will have more job opportunities and are likely to command higher salaries. Becoming certified by completing a certificate-granting program will also give you the opportunity to get hands-on experience working with UX design principles and building a more appealing design portfolio to add to your job materials.
What Program is Right for Me?
With so many different options to choose from, students may not be sure what kind of program they want to pursue to become UX design certified. Not only are there plenty of different programs, but there are also a wide variety of different training modalities for students. This increases the flexibility of options available to prospective UX Designers but it can also be overwhelming for students who aren’t sure what kind of program is right for them. While all of the courses will differ in significant ways, some consistent qualities exist between courses that are taught in similar modalities so students can read on to learn the advantages and disadvantages of each program.
Certificate or Certification?
One of the first questions students should ask themselves is whether they want to sit for a certification exam or enroll in a certificate-granting course. This does tend to have a straightforward answer. Suppose you have significant experience in UX design. In that case, whether from a college degree program, a professional development course, or on-the-job experience, it is probably in your best interest to sit for an exam. These exams test skills you already have, and a student with a lot of prior experience is likely to be able to pass one of these exams.
Students who are new to UX design, need additional training or want to get more practice with their skills will need to enroll in a certificate-granting program. In many ways, the certificate you receive from one of these programs is far less valuable than the skills you learn. The certificate simply demonstrates your proficiency and training to prospective employers. Students looking to change careers, improve their existing career skills or expand their employment options will want to consider enrolling in a certificate-granting program.
Which is Better: In-Person or Online?
One of the first issues you will need to consider is whether you want to learn in a dedicated classroom space at a training center or in a digital classroom online. Given the leaps in online learning technology and internet speeds over the last few years, online learning should no longer be immediately dismissed as lesser. Online learning provides quality education to students worldwide, and students shouldn’t write it off immediately. However, in-person and online learning options are still different enough that students should weigh the pros and cons of each option before deciding on a course.
Many students prefer in-person classes since the dedicated classroom space makes it easier to work directly with their instructors and focus their attention on their lessons. Additionally, students enrolled in an in-person course will have significantly more opportunities to collaborate and network with their classmates, a particularly valuable skill within the context of user experience design. The drawback to these classes is that students can only enroll in the classes that they can physically attend, which can limit the options available to students who don’t live near major metro areas, and even for students who can attend a course, adding a commute can be a hidden time and cost commitment.
Online classes address this problem by letting students learn from anywhere they have internet access. This will give students a wider range of options regarding the courses they can enroll in and let students have greater flexibility in terms of content and scheduling. Students can also work on their personal devices, which can be a boon, especially for students interested in finding freelance work. The drawback to these classes is that students may need to work harder to engage with their class materials, particularly in more flexible training courses.
Which is Better: Live or On-Demand Instruction?
One of the major differences between online certificate programs is the amount of time students spend in live classroom spaces working with instructors. Some programs, like those offered through Noble Desktop, are purely delivered as live instruction, while other programs rely more heavily (sometimes entirely) on pre-recorded video lectures and tutorials. Some courses are offered through hybrid modalities that combine the two to one degree or another. Students will want to consider things like the flexibility of their schedule when considering which kind of course to enroll in, though generally, live instruction will be better for students looking to start a new career or develop long-term skills.
Live courses, even those taught online, let students interact directly with their instructors and receive feedback on their work, which is vital to learning an iterative process like UX design. In addition, students in live courses can ask questions and receive assistance as soon as problems arise, rather than having to wait to contact an outside advisor who may not even be able to help the student. On-demand classes will also require students to take more of their own time and energy addressing difficulties that arise relating to things like basic technical or interface concerns, and if a student isn’t diligent in choosing an on-demand course, they may find the material to be out-of-date.
One advantage of on-demand classes is the flexibility they offer students with restricted schedules or significant work and family obligations. Students who can’t commit to a regularly scheduled UX design course may need to enroll in an on-demand class to complete a program. On-demand classes can also be good for students who are looking to learn the basics of working with a program like Figma or some of the foundational principles of the research process, but these are still going to be limited. Students should only seriously consider on-demand training courses if the flexibility of the schedule is the most important issue for their long-term success.