What is the Best Course to Learn UX Design?

User experience (UX) design is a relatively young profession—Donald Norman, the first UX design professional, coined the term himself in 1995—but in its three decades, numerous schools have developed classes featuring a variety of pedagogical approaches. Considering the number of different UX design classes available today, it can be challenging to determine which you wish to enroll in. While it’s impossible to identify one single course as the best for learning UX design, this article explores several questions you can ask yourself to confidently decide which UX design course is the best for you.

Are You Brand New to UX Design?

Are you a complete beginner in UX design? The amount of experience you have with the skill set is a great first question to ask yourself when you’re looking for the best UX design course to help you meet your goals. If the answer is no, you are not a beginner, then your next step is to determine your learning goals. An advanced short course—possibly in a single UX design skill or application—may be the best class for you. Or suppose you have a little experience and are ready to commit to a training program to get you job-ready for your first UX Designer position. In that case, you will almost certainly wish to enroll in a UX design certificate program or a certificate-granting bootcamp.

A certificate program can also be the best UX design class for you if you’re brand new to the field, as most of these are designed to help anyone—no matter their experience level—gain the skills they need to land their first entry-level job in their chosen field. In addition to a proven, up-to-date curriculum created by UX design experts, high-quality certificate programs and bootcamps include several highly beneficial features, such as career support and assistance in building a professional-quality portfolio. Whether you enroll in an in-person or live online UX design certificate program, you will have a live instructor who has the skills to ensure you truly learn the content with skillfully-led lectures and discussions, targeted troubleshooting, and answering questions in real-time.

However, if you’re a UX design beginner uncertain whether you wish to commit to a certificate program or if your learning goals are simply to understand the basics of the field, a live introductory UX design short course will be the best class for you. While you may find prerecorded on-demand courses or free YouTube videos that purport to help you learn the basics of UX design, the benefits of a live instructor—especially for a beginner—cannot be overstated. Whatever your learning goals, as someone brand new to the topic, consider beginning your UX design learning journey with a free resource like Noble Desktop’s Intro to UX Design seminar to prepare yourself for success in your future endeavors.

How Much Are You Willing to Pay?

Your budget is the next consideration before selecting a UX design class. If your goal is to gain professional expertise to launch a new career as a UX Designer, you have no doubt considered the fact that you can expect a sizable return on investment for whatever you pay for your education. However, it may take some time to see this ROI if you decide to enroll in a UX design college degree program—or an adjacent bachelor’s or master’s program, considering the rarity of UX design majors available today. If you are interested in the cultural college experience and have the money and time to spare, a university program may be the best UX design learning path for you. However, even if this is the case, you should be aware that very few UX design job postings call for a bachelor’s degree, much less a master’s degree. Instead, hiring managers are typically most interested in a job candidate’s UX design portfolio, as this is what demonstrates whether a person can do the job.

If you have the finances to make it happen, then a certificate program or bootcamp is arguably the best UX design course for gaining a professional level of expertise in UX design quickly and landing a UX Designer job as soon as possible. A certificate program provides career support and assistance in building the professional-quality portfolio you need to impress a hiring team and stand out in the crowded UX design job market. UX design certificate-granting programs will have you job-ready in a fraction of the time a college program will and for less than the cost of a single full-time semester at most universities in the U.S.

Some UX Designers have gotten started by teaching themselves with free resources, but these are very few and far between. However, if your budget is nonexistent, you can check out Noble Desktop’s several free UX design tutorials to begin your learning journey. Or, if you have some money to invest in your education but your end goal is on a smaller scale than UX design job readiness, an introductory or advanced short course may be the best choice for you. You can usually save money by enrolling in a self-paced program, but the benefit of having a live instructor in an in-person or live online course is worth the price when learning a complex skill set like UX design.

How Quickly Do You Need to Learn New Skills?

If you need to complete your UX design education as quickly as possible, the best solution for you will look different than the best choice for those requiring a slower-paced solution. Luckily, the plethora of UX design classes on the market today means whichever situation you find yourself in, you can find a training course that works for you. Those who need to learn the basics of UX design or a single UX design tool or skill will want to look into introductory or advanced short courses, whichever is a better fit for where they are in their learning journey. Offered by professional training institutions, these can be anywhere from a couple of hours in length to three or four days of full-time classes. While some of these will be offered on weekends or afternoons, others may require you to take a few days off of work to complete the course.

On the other hand, your schedule may be on the tighter side, and a part-time UX design class may be the solution for you. Some UX design bootcamps and certificate programs offer a schedule that meets in the evenings, so you have the freedom to work or attend to other responsibilities during the day. Noble Desktop’s UX design certificate program allows learners to participate as part-time or full-time students, while other programs may run exclusively on a part-time schedule. 

For those with the most erratic schedules, self-paced courses may be the best UX design class option. While there are several drawbacks to these, including the lack of accountability and support from a live instructor, when flexibility is your primary concern, self-paced courses can work for the most disciplined and motivated individuals. Note that the lack of an instructor can make them exceptionally inefficient solutions for beginners to UX design, however, as nothing beats the assistance of a live instructor when you’re first encountering such a complex and unique skill set.

Do You Want to Become a Professional UX Designer?

The best UX design class for aspiring UX Designers is almost invariably a certificate program or certificate-granting bootcamp. These career-focused courses provide curricula, career support, mentorship, and other features designed to guide you from beginner to highly competitive job candidate in as little time as possible. These programs can require a considerable financial investment. Still, the professional expertise and job readiness you’ll gain by the time you complete a high-quality program will make it well worth the price.

Some may be able to piece together an education to prepare to land a junior UX Designer position with free resources and short courses, but this can be impossible for some and highly challenging for all. Assembling the professional-quality portfolio required to make an impression on a hiring manager can be incredibly difficult on your own, while a live instructor can provide feedback in real-time and support you through the process. Some may prefer a college experience over a certificate program. However, between the considerably higher tuition, significantly lengthier time commitment, and the fact that higher teams rarely look for college degrees in UX Designer job candidates, most find a certificate program to be the obvious choice over a college degree.

Do You Prefer In-Person or Online Training?

Before determining the best UX design course for you, one final question to consider is whether you prefer to attend an in-person or online class. Neither is objectively better, and you may find either option suitable for your needs. However, others may find one fits their situation better than the rest.

In-person classes meet in a physical classroom or computer lab, offering the most traditional educational experience for your UX design learning journey. Some find that being in the same room as their instructor allows them to focus and understand the subject matter better than attending a course in an online classroom. Others appreciate shopping locally or even enjoy the commute, especially when a nearby in-person class perfectly aligns with their schedule.

However, many find that a live online UX design class provides a similar experience to an in-person course while allowing them to skip an inconvenient commute. In a live online class, you meet with a live instructor in a digital classroom on a set schedule, just as you would meet in a brick-and-mortar classroom for an in-person class. The instructor can answer your questions and help you troubleshoot any issues that arise in real-time in a live online class. Additionally, live online courses allow you to expand your menu of UX design class options beyond geographic limitations.

Learn UX Design Skills with Noble Desktop

Design and coding school Noble Desktop provides UX design classes of various scopes to meet you where you are in your learning career. Noble offers a comprehensive UX & UI Design Certificate program ideal for beginners who want to launch a UX design career. Whether you choose the full-time or part-time track, you will receive 132 hours of hands-on training, a free retake option, one-on-one mentorship, and a verified certificate of completion as a student in this UX design class. You can attend this class live online from anywhere, or if you’re in the NYC area, you can enjoy this UX design certificate program in-person. In addition to the UX design skills in prototyping, user testing, and Figma you gain in the class, you’ll also have completed a professional portfolio to showcase those skills to potential employers by the end of the program.

Noble Desktop’s UX Design Foundations is an introductory class available in-person in NYC and live online for those wishing to learn the basics of the field. No experience is necessary to enroll in this 12-hour short course. Featuring lectures, discussions, and hands-on exercises, UX Design Foundations is an ideal first step in your UX design learning journey. Whether you’re simply needing familiarity with the basics or looking for a low-commitment taste of the topic before committing to pursuing a career as a UX Designer, you’ll learn the foundational concepts and tools of UX design in this course and earn a verified digital certificate when you complete the course.