Adobe XD Certifications and Certificates

If you’re looking for a way to demonstrate your skills in Adobe XD, you might be overwhelmed by the different certifications and certificate programs available. You might also have a lot of questions, such as how getting certified will impact your career opportunities, how long certification will take, and how difficult it is to become certified. This article aims to provide answers to these questions so you can efficiently choose the right path toward an Adobe XD certification. Keep reading to find out more.

What is Adobe XD?

Adobe XD is Adobe’s vector-based user interface design tool. XD was designed to address Photoshop’s and Illustrator’s inadequacies as web design tools, and as such, XD is built entirely with user interface design in mind. Users can build vector-based wireframes for websites and share them with other users as functional prototypes of webpages, allowing users to test their own web designs for future iterations. Links, animations, voice responsiveness, and automated scrolling features let users model working websites with complex and interactive features, and collaborative tools allow teams of designers to work together on building web designs.

Adobe XD is one of the newest additions to the Adobe Creative Cloud, and like most Creative Cloud programs, it is designed with heavy Creative Cloud integration in mind. Users can import Photoshop and Illustrator designs and assets as parts of their UI designs, and Adobe InDesign is an ideal tool for building sketches of web pages. Unlike other Adobe Creative Cloud software, XD is still a relatively new tool, meaning that it doesn’t have the decades of iteration and releases that Photoshop and its ilk have received. This means that updates are frequently adding new tools, but it also means that the program hasn’t become an unchallenged industry-standard yet.

Adobe XD is an ideal skill for web designers and UX/UI developers to learn as a dedicated web interface design tool. The ease with which it allows users to build working prototypes of web pages makes the process of testing and iterating on designs faster and more efficient than ever.

Read more about what Adobe XD is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Adobe XD?

Adobe XD is a versatile page layout design application that lets users build realistic, working prototypes of web layouts for testing and collaboration. The software lets users take basic shapes, designs, and applications and build them into vibrant and memorable web page designs. The program then lets users transform those designs into working prototypes within the application so that they may test and update their designs in real-time.

The ease with which Adobe XD allows creatives to build and test designs means that it is incredibly easy to produce a prototype, share it with other users to test the prototype's functionality, and receive feedback from those tests to return to the original design for iteration. This ease assures that designers aren’t having to undertake long, arduous processes every time they want to test a new iteration of a design, meaning that they can test more frequently and with more diverse groups of users.

Creatives who are interested in entering the world of web design and user experience design will greatly benefit from learning user interface design software like Adobe XD. Anyone already familiar with the Adobe Creative Cloud benefits even more from this training. The program is built to help users build the kinds of prototypes they were already using in older programs like Photoshop.

Certifications vs. Certificates: What’s the Difference?

One of the first things that may confuse aspiring designers is the fact that XD certification and XD certificates are not the same things, even though they are both ways to become certified. The difference lies in how a student becomes certified and what the requirements are to become certified.

XD Certification is only available through Adobe and requires that students register for and pass a skill-based exam, proctored either in-person at an official testing center or online. These exams may be taken by anyone, but Adobe recommends that test-takers have approximately 150 hours of training or on-job experience in order to pass the exam. Adobe certifications only last a limited amount of time, and certified users will need to re-pass the exam after 24 months.

XD Certificates are conferred upon participants in industry-recognized professional skills programs once they have successfully completed their training. These certificate programs are often an excellent way to receive the training and hands-on experience that a student will need to pass a certification exam. Some certificate programs also include directed exam preparation as a part of the curriculum. Certificate programs do not expire.

Top Certifications & Certificates for Adobe XD

Official certification in Adobe XD is available through Adobe’s XD Credential Exam. This 48-question, multiple-choice exam tests users' knowledge of keyboard shortcuts, workflow best practices, intermediate prototyping skills, and collaboration features.

In terms of industry-recognized certificates, Noble offers a number of options to let students demonstrate their proficiency in XD to potential employers. Noble’s Adobe XD Bootcamp teaches students the ins and outs of Adobe XD, including basic prototyping functions and advanced layout design skills. This course confers upon students a certificate of completion and lets employers know that they have received advanced XD training. The Adobe XD bootcamp is also a great place to build the necessary skills to pass the XD Credential Exam.

Noble also offers more in-depth professional certificate programs in the form of its Digital Design Certificate program and Web Design Certificate program. These programs teach students a number of career skills, and participants are awarded certificates of completion upon finishing the program. The Digital Design certificate, aimed at prospective Graphic Designers, teaches students how to build assets in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign and then teaches students how to use those assets to populate user experience designs in XD and Figma. The Web Design Certificate program teaches students how to mock up user interfaces in XD before teaching them how to code functioning versions of those interfaces with HTML/CSS and JavaScript.

Should I Get Certified in Adobe XD?

Becoming certified in Adobe XD is not a strict requirement for aspiring Digital Designers or Web Designers. The most important thing for designers on the job market is a strong portfolio of sample designs that they can show to prospective employers. However, becoming XD certified can complement a strong portfolio and demonstrate to employers that an applicant has put in the time and effort required to become certified.

Additionally, many certificate programs, like those offered by Noble, confer industry-recognized certificates in a number of important career skills, letting employers know that an applicant is not merely trained in XD but has received robust career training in graphic design or web design skills.

How to Get Certified in Adobe XD

There are two ways to become certified in Adobe XD. Users can pass Adobe’s XD Credential exam, or they can complete an industry-recognized training program that confers a certificate unto its participants.

Passing the XD Credential exam is ideal for users who already have on-the-job training in XD or who have received XD training through some other means. The exam is standalone and includes no formal instruction, as users are expected to have proficiency in XD before they register to sit for the exam.

Certificate programs are ideal for students who aren’t yet trained in XD and want to receive professional training while they earn their certificates. These programs are far more time and labor intensive than simply passing the exam, but they are built to teach students new skills rather than gauge a student’s current level of proficiency.

Learn Adobe XD with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Noble offers a number of online options for Adobe XD training. For novice users, the Adobe XD in a Day course provides students with training in the program's basic features, such as how to build a simple wireframe layout and collaborate with other designers. This course is designed to give students the required knowledge to learn more advanced XD skills at their own pace. Adobe XD Advanced offers students this advanced training, building on existing XD skills to teach students how to use scroll groups, animations, and sound effects to create dynamic and complex design prototypes. These courses can be taken together in the Adobe XD Bootcamp.

Noble also offers career-focused training through their Digital Design Certificate and Web Design Certificate programs. These immersive courses teach students the skills they will need in future careers as Digital Designers and Web Designers. The Digital Design Certificate program focuses more on web design's creative and visual side, teaching students how to design assets in Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign to be imported into XD for use in a web layout. The Web Design Certificate focuses on the technical side of the field, teaching students how to code in HTML/CSS and JavaScript to turn their designs into functioning web interfaces.

These certificate programs teach students who want to enter the UX/UI design industry. They come with one-on-one career mentoring sessions and provide industry-recognized certificates of completion, confirming to prospective employers that graduates have received professional training in several important career skills. In addition, because they are hands-on courses, students will participate in practical design exercises and build their own sample designs or working prototypes to place in a sample design portfolio when they enter the job market.

Key Insights

• Adobe XD is Adobe’s user interface design software, and aspiring Digital Designers and Web Designers may wish to consider becoming XD certified.
• There are two major ways to become XD certified. Adobe XD Credentials are available to any user who passes Adobe’s proficiency test, and Adobe XD certificates are available to any student who completes an industry-recognized professional training program.
• XD Credentials are ideal for users who already have training and experience with XD. XD certificates are ideal for students who want to become certified while receiving professional instruction.
• Most careers that use XD do not require employees to become certified. However, becoming certified in XD or other design programs can complement a strong sample portfolio and set applicants apart from others in the eyes of prospective employers.
• Noble training programs offer both XD certificates and are ideal places to learn the skills necessary to pass a certification exam.