It’s pretty much safe to say there’s never been a better time to be a designer, but that might do a disservice to the realities that seem set to continue unfolding—far into the future—for those who can craft engaging user interfaces to delight users with. If we take the Nielsen Norman Group's projections—which have it that 2050 will witness a surge to a staggering 100 million UX (user experience) professionals worldwide—and look at the existing rate of people creating three websites every second, they’re healthy indicators of the need for skilled UX designers to make seamless user interfaces, or UIs. Numerous institutions—recognizing this demand—have rolled out courses to foster this talent, but there’s even better news: quality education doesn’t aways come at a premium cost—read on and see why, and who’s offering free UX courses that count.
“Design used to be the seasoning you'd sprinkle on for taste; now it's the flour you need at the start of the recipe.”
– John Maeda, Designer and Technologist, Vice President, Design and Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft
What’s so nobly spreading this knowledge to help budding UX designers grow and bloom into flourishing careers are UX courses that are free—yes, you read that right: free. “Free” also translates to freedom and flexibility, since there’s the advantage of self-paced learning—you can set your own schedule and move ahead at your own pace while you’re balancing other commitments, because life can have a habit of getting more than a little busy at times—right?
Whether you're a beginner and you’re eager to break into UX design or you’re an existing professional who’s up for refining your expertise, we’ve got for you a little list of standout free UX design courses in 2023—yes, complete with their pros, cons, and essential details:
1. Springboard’s Free UX Design Course
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Springboard's free UX Design Curriculum offers insights into essential UX design techniques—think of user research, prototyping, and wireframing, for instance—and it’s got over 38 resources and 40+ hours of content all just waiting for you. You’ll get to get your mind around vital concepts such as UX design terminology, user-centered design, HTML, creating personas, and how UX design interplays with other disciplines: neat.
Springboard’s well-known in the tech education space, and Julia—the course author—has got a rich background in UX design, both as a senior designer and as an instructor at the reputable General Assembly.
Course Structure
Introduction to UX Design
UX Design terminology and best practices
Fundamental design research methods
User-centered design techniques
Interviewing users in real-world situations
Creating personas
Essential deliverables in UX design
Relationship of UX design to other disciplines
Pros
The curriculum is aligned for career readiness, and it lets you start your UX career with a competitive edge.
There’s a curated collection of top-notch UX design materials, and these include online courses, videos, and tutorials.
It caters to a wide range of individuals—from working professionals who are curious about UX design to students seeking to get a new skill set.
Cons
The course doesn’t discuss the specifics of various UX design tools, although it does touch upon different software options.
Rating
8.5/10
2. UX Design Institute’s Introduction to UX Design
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This is a free UI/UX design course for beginners, and "Introduction to UX Design" is a seven-lesson free UI/UX design course where you can grasp the foundational concepts of UX design principles—a suitable starting point for anyone, whether you’re looking for a career shift or are curious about UX and want to see if it’s the way forward for you.
The UX Design Institute is reputable in the UX domain, to be sure, and the course material comes from a university credit-rated study program—the Professional Diploma in UX Design—which has been helping numerous design hopefuls to start their careers in UX.
Course Structure
Introduction to UX and its importance
In-depth exploration of UX
Creating desirable products
Business benefits of UX
Pros
You can digest UX concepts at your leisure with bite-sized lessons to digest, enjoy, and grow with.
Apart from the core lessons, it’s got 18 supplementary resources to enrich and expand your understanding further.
The content includes insights from their comprehensive "Professional Diploma in UX Design," which ensures that there’s industry relevance on board.
Cons
UX Design Institute might contact you for promotions, though you can unsubscribe anytime.
Rating
8.5/10
3. UX Writing Hub’s A Taste of UX Writing
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A nice thing about this comprehensive course is how it covers the foundational concepts of UX writing, the psychology that’s behind it, and what the significance of research is. It’s got an emphasis on how important it is to put content at the forefront of design, and it explores the evolution—and relevance—of microcopy. Another nifty point is that this course offers insights on how to create ethical products and guides on how to establish content style parameters—great things to absorb for designers of all types.
The credibility of this course is nice and solid and underscored both by its industry-focused content and by the glowing testimonials from seasoned professionals, and notable figures like Fiona Tinner from Ginetta Web and Yves Van Kerkhove from Colruyt Group laud the course for its insights and actionable techniques.
Course Structure
The basics of UX writing & content design
The Cost of Poor Design
Content First Design
Research Methods
Intro to Testing
Evolution of Microcopy
Psychology in UX
User Journeys
Content Style Guides
Pros
It combines the intricacies of design, psychology, and research to give you a nicely well-rounded view of UX writing.
Thanks to its exclusive content, quizzes, and a final exercise, the course ensures that hands-on learning empowers students.
From understanding the significant part that microcopy plays to create ethical digital products, it covers a wide range of topics that are crucial to mastering UX research and writing.
Cons
While a later addition, some purists may feel that the emphasis on AI writing tools detracts from the human aspect of UX writing.
Rating
9/10
4. edX’s Human-Computer Interaction II: Cognition, Context and Culture
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The renowned Georgia Institute of Technology on edX offers this one, which is a course that explores the intricacies of human-computer interaction with focuses on understanding user cognition and how interfaces integrate with the world around us. The course is part of Georgia Tech's Online Master of Science in Computer Science program, and so cements how credible it is in the field.
Author and Expert in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Professor Alan Dix tells you important points about HCI here:
Course Structure
Role of mental models in guiding user-system interaction
Representation's impact on mental model development
Decomposition of human-computer interaction into discernible chunks
Using GOMS models for system-user interaction
Distributed cognition for large system design
Situated action's role in anticipating human behavior
Understanding society's influence on design and vice versa
Pros
This course offers insights into rarely discussed topics like "situated action" and "distributed cognition."
It’s part of a Professional Certificate program, a point that makes it all the more useful for progressing in your career with it.
It gives you the chance to connect with a global community of learners and professionals through edX's platform.
Cons
The course offers limited course material access in the free version.
Rating
9/10
5. Udacity’s Product Design
© Udacity, Fair Use
This course goes beyond the aesthetics “department” and educates learners of design on the complexities of material design, user flows, and personas. There’s a neat, exciting module that focuses on Google's Design Sprint, and it teaches you how to validate your ideas and craft compelling product mockups swiftly—plus, you don't need any prior experience to attend this course.
Instructors like Chris Saden and Amir Shevat, well-established in the industry, contribute to the workshop's credibility.
Course Structure
Ideation and validation covering the principles of product ideation
Intricacies of UX and UI design
Steps required to validate ideas and create product mockups
Necessary key metrics
Pros
The course has up-to-date content that’s in line with recent developments in the field.
There aren’t any prerequisites to access this course, a point that makes it nice and available to anyone who’s got an interest in product design.
It emphasizes real-world tools and techniques—and that’s a factor that ensures you get industry-relevant knowledge.
Cons
This is an introductory-level course, so advanced professionals might need help finding new insights.
Rating
8/10
6. Gymnasium’s UX Fundamentals
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This two-hour session is ideal whether you’re a beginner or you are just curious about UX, and it promises to be engaging and informative—both. A neat point about the course is how it introduces you to the sophisticated decision-making aspects that show the difference between merely good user experiences and those that are exceptional ones. Another big plus is how the interactive learning experience encourages you to get active and participate through real-time Q&A sessions, engaging chatbox interactions, and practical exercises.
What’s more, this workshop is tailor-made for beginners who’ve got no prior knowledge of—or experience in—UX Design, and highly experienced web developer and teacher Jim Webb, who’s got more than 1,800 hours of classroom experience, teaches the course.
Course Structure
Introduction to UX Design and its importance
Distinguishing factors between good and great user experiences
Interactive Q&A and chatbox interactions
Pros
The course covers each topic in detail, and it includes ways for you to identify user needs to specify the path of your website.
You don’t need prior coding knowledge.
You can learn UX design free, and get insights from someone with extensive field experience.
Cons
Being only two hours in length, it offers an introductory glimpse into the design world.
Rating
8/10
7. Future Learn’s Digital Skills: User Experience
© Futurelearn, Fair Use
This one is a two-hour livestream workshop, it gears you towards decision-making, and it aims to show you differences between an ordinary user experience and one that’s exceptional. An industry professional is there to guide you through essential foundational knowledge, and the workshop covers UX tools and practices to provide that neat and all-important ingredient: a hands-on learning experience.
Accenture, a global leader in digital, cloud, and security services, developed this workshop, and the course offers superb value for everyone—whether you’re totally new to UX or are looking to enhance your UX design skills—and this workshop is just the ticket and has got solid relevance and credibility in the industry.
Course Structure
Introduction to the world of UX design and its significance
Discovering the attributes that make a product delightful or otherwise
Emphasis on sketching as an effective medium to conceive and convey ideas
Pros
In spite of the point it’s a short course, it does cover essential UX concepts.
It uses videos, quizzes, discussions, and peer reviews for engaging learning experiences.
The CPD certification service certifies this course, and it makes sure of adherence to professional development standards and enhances how credible it is for completers.
Cons
Connectivity issues may disrupt real-time streaming.
Because they’re live sessions, they may not be on at convenient times.
Long-term access, tests and certificates require an upgrade (not free)
Rating
7/10
Criteria for Selecting the Best Free UX Design Courses
© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0
Whenever you’re choosing the best mobile UX design course, you’ve got to evaluate several key factors, and these include:
Course content: Make sure there’s a well-rounded curriculum that covers essential UX principles.
Instructor credibility: Aim for experienced instructors who’ve got a notable background in UX.
Past reviews: Seek feedback from previous students to see what the course quality and relevance are like.
Accessibility: The course should be accessible—as in, it should be device-friendly and offer functionality options like subtitles for wider accessibility.
Practical application: Get “real” and go for courses with hands-on projects or real-world examples—these factors are things that will give you an edge.
Duration: Consider the length of the course in relation to the depth of content that’s provided—is time spent covering some things enough to give you what you need?
Certification: A free UI/UX design course with a certification upon completion can add value, so don’t underestimate how precious credentials like this can be for you.
Update frequency: Check if the creators update the course content regularly—and appropriately—with current UX trends and technologies; for example, with AI becoming mainstream, it’s pretty much vital to understand how to design using AI.
Still Don't Know Where to Start?
It might well feel like a massive task to take the very first step on your UX design journey, but remember something here: that every expert began as a beginner—and they had to start somewhere. The best UX design courses offer that precious blend of theoretical knowledge and practical experience—which include modules on design thinking, mobile app design, and more, even how to incorporate CSS into your prototypes—and it’s a mix that can pay big dividends for you later.
These courses offer a comprehensive intro—from understanding the intricacies of user experience to the practicalities of visual design implementation—and if you ever find yourself getting overwhelmed, it might help narrow down your choice to check back in here to revisit our criteria for selection.
While we're on the topic, have you thought about how beneficial it might be for you to explore the plethora of UX design courses which we offer at the IxDF? Our 7-day free trial is an excellent way to get a taste of our comprehensive free online courses—and start building a firm foundation to build on. With expert master classes, exclusive UX meet-ups for networking, and a wide, wide range of design tools and literature, it's no wonder platforms like Forbes compare our approach to an "Ivy League level education in UX."
No matter where you start—whether it’s free online courses or our very own esteemed courses at the IxDF—you're sure to get a truly holistic understanding of user experience from what you find, right down to the juicy details of design implementation. And remember: if decisions about this get too much for you to make clearly, just circle back to our criteria for how to pick and it’ll be able to offer you clarity.
Looking to explore more? Our FAQ page can provide further insights—so, do keep exploring, and—of course—keep learning!
