Specifically, courses for people who want to change careers into UX design without attending university. (No, you don’t need a degree to work in UX.)
Last year I wrote The Best UX Design Courses in 2022 and I was surprised by its popularity. So I have updated the table below for those of you wanting to get into UX design in 2023.
With so many UX design courses available it can become overwhelming to sort through them all and decide which one is the right one for you.
I’ve made a list of beginner-friendly courses that should get you skilled-up and into the UX workforce quickly and efficiently. Usually, courses offered by universities are long and expensive — even though employers and hiring managers often don’t require applicants to have a degree.
The courses in this list aim to give you UX knowledge, opportunities to put that new knowledge into practice (developing the practical skills, not just giving you theory), and a case study to put into your UX portfolio, with varying levels of support and guidance offered for each.
There are a few things I’d suggest giving some serious thought to when doing your research. One of them is to make sure the mentors you’ll be learning from are actually UX professionals with plenty of experience. How much can someone teach you if they only finished their own studies a couple of years ago?
Other aspects to consider (follow the link to the original article to read more about each):
- Simulated vs real client projects
- What a project is and why you need one
- Accountability and support during your UX design study
Obviously, I haven’t been able to complete all of the courses on this list so you should definitely do your own research before signing up for a course, but hopefully, it will give you a starting point for comparison.
Course comparison list
I have also made this list available on Airtable, for you so you can download, sort, edit etc as you please: airtable.com/shrRGKfuHVGdJ1O7o.
Edit 2024: I have a new version of this comparison list over here.
UX Accelerator by PeakXD
- Support offered: 1:1 coaching, feedback on project work, group coaching, peer support
- Project type: Real client project
- Certification type: BCS industry certification (exam fee included)
- Course format and length: Structured, 13 or 26 weeks
- Cost (in AUD): $5,997
- (This one also has been reviewed and rated as 9.75 out of 10 by UXMastery. Read the review here.)
UX Design Portfolio Booster by PeakXD
- Support offered: Feedback on project work, peer support
- Project type: Real client project
- Certification type: BCS industry certification (exam fee not included)
- Course format and length: Structured, 13 or 26 weeks
- Cost (in AUD): $5,470
Google UX Design Professional Certificate by Google via Coursera
- Support offered: Peer support
- Project type: Simulated project
- Certification type: Vendor certificate of completion
- Course format and length: Self-paced, 6 months
- Cost (in AUD): $86 per month
UX Design Course by General Assembly
- Support offered: 1:1 coaching, feedback on project work, group coaching, peer support
- Project type: Simulated project
- Certification type: Vendor certificate of completion
- Course format and length: Structured, 1 or 10 weeks
- Cost (in AUD): $5,000
UX Design Immersive by General Assembly
- Support offered: 1:1 coaching, feedback on project work, group coaching, peer support
- Project type: Real client project
- Certification type: Vendor certificate of completion
- Course format and length: Structured, 11 or 26 weeks
- Cost (in AUD): $13,500
UX Design Program by CareerFoundry
- Support offered: 1:1 coaching
- Project type: Simulated project
- Certification type: Vendor certificate of completion
- Course format and length: Structured, 6 or 10 months
- Cost (in AUD): $9,800
User Experience: The Beginners Guide by Interaction Design Foundation
- Support offered: Peer support
- Project type: Simulated project
- Certification type: Vendor certificate of completion
- Course format and length: Self-paced, 6 weeks
- Cost (in AUD): $23 per month
UX UI Design (Transform) by Academy Xi
- Support offered: 1:1 coaching, feedback on project work, group coaching, peer support
- Project type: Real client project
- Certification type: Vendor certificate of completion
- Course format and length: Structured, 12 weeks
- Cost (in AUD): $10,000
Interaction Design Specialization by University of California San Diego via Coursera
- Support offered: Peer support
- Project type: Simulated project
- Certification type: Vendor certificate of completion
- Course format and length: Self-paced, 10 months
- Cost (in AUD): $86 per month
Professional Diploma in UX Design by UX Design Institute
- Support offered: Feedback on project work, group coaching, peer support
- Project type: Simulated project
- Certification type: Professional Diploma (Scotland)
- Course format and length: Self-paced, 6 months
- Cost (in AUD): $5,150
Career Launcher UX Design by Harness Projects
- Support offered: Feedback on project work, group coaching, peer support
- Project type: Real client project
- Certification type: Vendor certificate of completion
- Course format and length: Structured, 6 months
- Cost (in AUD): $8,450
UX Academy by Designlab
- Support offered: 1:1 coaching, feedback on project work, group coaching, peer support
- Project type: Simulated project
- Certification type: Vendor certificate of completion
- Course format and length: Structured, 15 or 30 weeks
- Cost (in AUD): Approx. $10,400 (USD $7,249)
UI/UX Design Bootcamp by Springboard
- Support offered: 1:1 coaching, feedback on project work, group coaching, peer support
- Project type: Real client project
- Certification type: Vendor certificate of completion
- Course format and length: Structured, 9 months
- Cost (in AUD): Approx. $17,000 (USD $11,900)
Beginner UX Design Course by UX Academy
- Support offered: Feedback on project work, group coaching
- Project type: Real client project
- Certification type: CPD certification
- Course format and length: Structured, 8 weeks
- Cost (in AUD): Approx. $2,200 (GBP £1,250)
User Experience Design, Future Skills Short Course by RMIT
- Support offered: 1:1 coaching, feedback on project work, group coaching, peer support
- Project type: Simulated project
- Certification type: Digital credential
- Course format and length: Structured, 6 weeks
- Cost (in AUD): $1,200
UX/UI Design Program by Avocademy
- Support offered: 1:1 coaching
- Project type: Simulated project
- Certification type: Vendor certificate of completion
- Course format and length: Self-paced, 8 weeks
- Cost (in AUD): Approx. $2,800 (USD $1,997)
UX/UI Design Course by Mento Design Academy
- Support offered: 1:1 coaching, feedback on project work, group coaching, peer support
- Project type: Simulated project
- Certification type: Vendor certificate of completion
- Course format and length: Self-paced, 6 months
- Cost (in AUD): Approx. $6,900 (USD $4,839)
Over to you — which course looks like the best one for you?
If you’re curious about which course I chose — I opted for the UX Accelerator with PeakXD. The Mento course wasn’t available but would certainly have been a contender if I had seen it at the time. I think PeakXD would have still won in the end though because I’d get to work on a real client project with a high-profile brand, which would look great on my portfolio, and PeakXD also offered the ability to obtain globally recognised industry certification, which was really important to me (plus it’s $1,000 cheaper!).
Think I’ve missed something? Send me the details of another suitable UX design course that should have been included: https://airtable.com/shrb6Nc8PDMMrE8jZ
You can find me, Amy, on LinkedIn.
You may also like to read my article about my journey from Corporate Finance to UX Design.
