Top 10 courses for UX designers
User experience (UX) design is one of the most versatile, sought-after careers in tech. With a projected growth rate of 8 percent over the next 10 years—more than twice the rate of most other industries—the job outlook for both current and future UX designers is on the rise.
If you’re interested in this field or want to take your UX career to the next level and remain competitive, now is the time to develop a robust skillset. The goal is to become as marketable as possible so you can compete with the many UX professionals vying for freelance, contract, and full-time work.
One way to develop more impressive skills is to take courses. You can do them at your own pace, pick and choose the areas of focus that matter most to you, and often get the best courses at an affordable price.
Choosing the best courses, however, can be challenging. We’ve done the research for you and collected the most affordable, high-quality and comprehensive UX design courses across the web. All of these are accessible to beginners who want to learn the basics from scratch, but also in-depth enough for more established UX designers to sharpen or advance certain areas of expertise. These guided courses may provide you more structure than other UX design resources that are available.
Use this list of courses to develop your skills no matter where you are in your career.
Beginner UX Courses
Introduction to User Experience Design
Course site: Coursera
- Cost: Free ($49 for certificate)
- Length: 6 hours
This course is taught by Dr. Rosa Arriaga, Senior Research Scientist at The Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Interactive Computing. It was created for those who are new to UX design. The curriculum delves into the four main steps in user experience and interface design with a broad-strokes but thorough approach. You’ll learn techniques on which to build the framework of your UX design career, and you can move through these dynamic, compelling lectures at your own pace. Upon successful completion, you can also purchase an authorized certificate to share on LinkedIn.
User Experience Design Fundamentals
Course site: Udemy
- Cost: $94.99 (one-time fee)
- Length: 10 hours
If you want to immerse yourself deeper in the various elements of user experience design and how they work in cohesion with each other, don’t miss this course. With nearly 30 years as a UX designer at both Fortune-500 companies and government agencies, instructor Joe Natoli shares his breadth of expertise in a format that’s digestible for all levels. You will learn everything from the initial research process to creating wireframes to effective use of color and typeface to A/B testing and more. After this course, you also have the option to take Natoli’s follow-up master class.
Intro to User Experience Design
Course site: SuperHi
- Cost: $149 (one-time fee)
- Length: 8 hours
This course focuses on the iterative UX methodology which includes research, wireframing, prototyping, user interface (UI) design, and user testing. The curriculum walks you through each phase of the user experience journey and teaches you how to create both a functional and intuitive design that consumers will enjoy. While the information covered is technical and complex, that should not deter you as a beginner. If you can operate basic software like Microsoft Word or Photoshop, then this course is for you.
User Experience: The Beginner’s Guide
Course Site: Interaction Design Foundation
- Cost: $16/month subscription
- Length: 18 hours
Created by one of the most reputable education platforms in the UX industry, this course breaks down the more nuanced features of user experience. Learn about the cognitive and visual perceptions that influence human-computer interactions and how to harness that knowledge to enhance the overall user experience. The course even teaches you which design methods to avoid to optimize your own skills and credibility as a designer. Plus, the certificate you’ll receive at the end of this class is recognized by tech companies such as IBM, Adobe, HP, Accenture, and others.
Intermediate UX Courses
Advance Your Skills in UX Design
Course Site: LinkedIn Learning
- Cost: $19.99/month subscription
- Length: 9 hours
This course expands on those core areas of UX competency and shows you how to combine industry best practices with new software advancements. With topics like prototype creation and testing, mobile responsive design, and machine learning validation techniques, this is the ideal next-level course to strengthen your portfolio and upskill your resume. In addition, each module is taught by a team of experts who bring their decades of success in UX design to the curriculum. As with most of the other courses listed, this one earns you a certificate too.
Course site: Interaction-Design.org
- Cost: $16/month, free for members
- Length: 18 hours, 12 mins
As a UX designer, you can’t ignore mobile and this course is a great way to develop your UX mobile skills. Learn how to design mobile interfaces, use personas and task modeling, differentiate between various platforms, (i.e. Android and iPhone), and implement mobile UX strategy. At the end of the course, you’ll earn a certificate that you can use to bolster your resume and portfolio.
Streamline Your Workflow: The Efficient UI/UX Design Process in Figma
Course site: Skillshare
- Cost: $19.99/month
- Length: 36 mins
One way to stand out from others vying for the same job or gig is to show that you’re not just a great designer, but you’re organized and efficient as well. Taking a course like this allows you to upgrade your design skills while getting better at your work overall. With nearly 5K students and more than 300 reviews, this course is worth looking at if you want to advance your UX career as a leader or manager.
Advanced UX Courses
iOS App Store and In-App Purchases
Course site: Coursera
- Cost: Free
- Length: 11 hours
More and more organizations are investing in developing their own apps. Being a UX designer with advanced app experience can make you a more likely contender when competing for work. This course will allow you to be a valuable asset to whichever company you work with, helping you understand how to both create and monetize apps in the Apple store, the latter of which is always critical when companies are looking at who and what they want to invest in. You’ll also learn how to create consumable and non-consumable in-app purchases, and more.
Course site: LinkedIn Learning
- Cost: Free trial, then $29.99 month
- Length: 26 mins
Our world moved remote in 2020, which means your job has shifted quite a bit. Instructor Amanda Stockwell is a research expert and will teach you how to effectively and successfully conduct UX research without the ability to do in-person interviews. You’ll learn how to recruit participants, and make sure they show up, along with strategies for identifying the need for more research and how to do this all successfully from your home or a coffee shop.
How to Build Habit-Forming Products
Course site: Udemy
- Cost: $49.99
- Length: 2 hours
Don’t just design products that look great. Learn the psychology behind why some products get people coming back for more and others don’t. This course dives into the stages of habit and how to optimize them for user retention along with how to lead a team in building a product that’s used regularly. Bring this psychology to your next product design project to show everyone that you can design products that help the organization meet larger company goals.
Level-Up Your Skills and Career Prospects with a UX Design Course
If you want to hone both the technical and creative skills required to be successful as a UX designer, these courses are a good place to start. From beginner lessons to advanced techniques, there is always something to learn in this dynamic, exciting field. Find the courses that will help you move your UX career forward, and enroll before your next interview, client call, or review meeting so you can bring even more to the conversation.
