A Complete Guide to UX Design
The field of User Experience (UX) design centers the customer in every decision made regarding a digital product or experience, and it’s becoming a primary focus for businesses that want to retain customers and grow their client base. Pew Research suggests that 86% of customers are willing to invest more in a product that promises a quality experience, and researchers with Strategic Data Consulting concluded that investing in UX design leads to shorter development cycles, saving businesses money in the long run.
A UX design class is an ideal way for aspiring designers to efficiently learn the skills and technologies they need to compete effectively in the job market. These classes help prepare students for professional responsibilities by teaching them to implement changes quickly, ensuring their designs align with the client’s goals and resonate with their target audience.
These classes generally focus on commonly used design programs like Figma and Adobe XD while also explaining essential design concepts students will need to know to ensure they’re creating appealing and user-friendly designs. They are often project-based, so students will add plenty of samples to their portfolios as they progress through the coursework.
What is UX Design and Why Learn It?
UX design primarily focuses on creating positive and meaningful experiences for users when using a digital product or service. Several elements make adding UX design skills to your resume a worthwhile investment:
- Well-designed applications can enhance usability and lead to products being more enjoyable to use. This directly translates to increased customer loyalty, making employees with UX design skills an asset to any company.
- Learning UX design can help prepare people for various UX research, design, or strategy careers. As businesses become increasingly focused on improving user experiences, these skills will remain in high demand across industries.
- UX design can also contribute to more creative and effective problem-solving skills. As you engage more with UX concepts, you learn to view problems from a user-centered perspective. Beyond design, these skills will help you address client needs more effectively, regardless of your professional field.
UX Design Training Locations
UX Design Classes Onsite
If you find yourself drawn to career paths that blend creativity with practicality and technical skill, UX design could be your best bet. It’s a field that is deeply rooted in problem-solving, understanding human needs, and having a keen eye for design. UX Designers are tasked with ensuring a product -- like a website, application, or other digital service -- operates as intended. And, since nearly every company these days relies on the internet to spread the word about their offerings, you can find a UX design job just about anywhere. But UX design is about more than just making people happy. It’s centered around research methods and frequent testing, so the user experience is always a solid one. Because of this, onsite training may be the most effective way to build your skills, portfolio, and confidence.
UX Design Classes NYC
185 Madison Avenue, 3rd Floor, NYC, New York, 10016
New York City is one of the best places to be if you want to become a UX Designer. There’s a near-endless pool of companies searching for talented UX design professionals who can ensure the user has a seamless experience. Take the retail industry, for instance. The countless shops, boutiques, and major companies in the area rely on successful e-commerce platforms to provide goods to consumers near and far. The retail industry alone affords many options, but considering all the other dominant industries in NYC, such as finance, media, and education, the opportunities expand even more. All in all, the job market is vast, but also competitive, meaning proper training can lead to more opportunities. At Noble Desktop, an affiliate school of Graduate School USA, you can find numerous UX design and related courses, bootcamps, and certificates. You can explore in-person, live online, or onsite training, so the learning experience can truly be tailored to your needs. In a place like NYC, having a skill like UX design in your professional toolkit can be a serious advantage that other applicants in your line of work may not have.
UX Design Classes San Diego
3904 Groton Street, San Diego, CA, 92110
Across California, UX design plays a huge role in how companies interact and present themselves to their consumers. In fact, there are currently hundreds upon hundreds of open positions for UX Designers across the San Diego area. Between hospitals, educational institutions, tech companies, and banks, UX design skills are in high demand. Even the U.S. military, which has a large presence in San Diego thanks to its three naval bases, hires UX Designers to optimize its internal systems, create easy-to-use websites, and manage other digital platforms. It’s clear that implementing thoughtful design choices makes a huge difference for companies in the long run, so learning UX design in San Diego can get you where you want to be professionally. VDCI, another partner school, offers courses in a variety of subjects, including those related to UX design. If you’re drawn to a human-centered field that makes a day-to-day impact, consider learning UX design.
UX Design Classes Washington, D.C.
600 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, D.C., 20024
In Washington, D.C., there’s a huge market for UX Designers. They’re one of the most vital parts of ensuring accessible, intuitive public services to constituents. The federal government will hire UX Designers to create platforms where citizens can find information and reach the right representatives without hassle. This means that things like applying for healthcare or veterans' benefits are easier and more accessible. Likewise, hospitals in the area hire UX Designers for similar reasons -- providing patients with easy-to-use and effective healthcare tools, like patient portals or applications. At Graduate School USA, you can explore both individual UX design courses and onsite team training to refine your skills or acquire new ones. This is a perfect choice for anyone interested in exploring work in UX design and building a meaningful career in a variety of D.C.’s major industries.
UX Design Classes Chicago
29 E. Madison Street, Chicago, IL, 60602
Chicago has a wide range of industries, although it’s known for its large financial networks. With this, however, it’s important to consider how prominent the healthcare and technology industries are as well. As someone looking to learn UX design in Chicago, you may wonder where you could fall into the mix. In truth, banks and investment firms always look for UX talent. It’s not the most front-and-center role, but it plays a huge part in making sure clients have access to their financial information, like bank statements and any important mortgage documents. Financial institutions rely on UX Designers to provide them with clear, intuitive designs for mobile and website applications. Practical Programming, an affiliate of Noble Desktop, provides training in several key areas, many of which are related to UX design. Whether you want to start fresh in a new career or already have relevant skills, you can find the right UX design training to get you prepped for the Chicago job market.
UX Design Classes Los Angeles
Your mind may immediately turn to the entertainment industry when you think of Los Angeles, and for good reason. L.A. is known for Hollywood and the many production companies, studios, and agencies that planted roots in the region. With that comes a host of other companies within industries like tech, retail, finance, and healthcare. UX Designers work in all these industries and more. These days, the entertainment industry is pretty much all online, so there is no shortage of work for UX Designers in this field. Retail shops have to ensure they provide their consumers with the best online shopping experience, which is where UX Designers come in. They make sure the e-commerce platform is clean, organized, intuitive, and operates as expected. Likewise, healthcare and educational institutions need platforms, websites, and applications that make it easy for users to find what they’re looking for. In essence, there’s no shortage of ways that a UX design professional can make an impact in a digitally-savvy place like L.A.
UX Design Classes Dallas
Dallas is steadily emerging as one of the major tech hubs in the country, drawing in a large community of UX Designers. According to a blog on Dallas Innovates, there were roughly 27,000 UX design jobs in the area in 2019, which was a third more than in other cities with a similar size and population. Since 2019, there’s been even more growth in the region, so the opportunities in Dallas just seem to keep growing. It’s worth studying UX design if you plan to live and work in Dallas, especially for roles related to graphic design, web design, product management, marketing, and even more technical fields like data analysis and software engineering.
UX Design Classes Boston
Exploring a skill like UX design in Boston may be your ticket to landing a job within a major industry or at a reputable institution, like Harvard or MIT. UX Designers in Boston often find jobs with higher education institutions to craft student portals, faculty pages, and administrative platforms that keep everyone on task and on the path to success. In addition, Boston has some seriously impressive hospital networks where UX Designers can perform similar work. They’ll often create applications for patients to easily access their healthcare information and find ways to contact their provider. UX design is a highly sought-after skill in Boston’s professional landscape since most companies these days value making a good first -- and lasting -- impression on their clients and consumers.
UX Design Classes Miami
Miami’s vibrant social and professional landscape has drawn in visitors and transplants for decades, resulting in a rather strong economy and job market. One of the most glaringly necessary sectors in Miami is its strong tourism industry, but along with this, the city has steady real estate and finance industries as well. In each, UX Designers can find employment, whether it’s improving complex financial platforms so clients can access their information or using their skills to create a platform where Real Estate Agents can share listings, set up tours, and connect with other potential clients in the area. Needless to say, it pays to have UX design skills in a bustling and exciting place like Miami.
UX Design Classes Philadelphia
Learning UX design in Philadelphia is a great option due to the sheer number of professional institutions in the area. Universities such as Temple, Drexel, and UPenn depend on organized and high-functioning online systems to handle everything from student enrollment and student services to payroll and employee benefits. While the UX Designer does play a role in making sure the product looks nice and operates as intended, they are more concerned with streamlining otherwise complicated processes, so everyone involved can get back to what really matters.
UX Design Classes Phoenix
As Phoenix continues to rise as a leading city on the West Coast, the demand for skilled UX Designers will also increase. The region has numerous industries that dominate the landscape, like education, healthcare, retail, and government. In addition, the tech industry is steadily growing in Phoenix. Companies of all kinds are realizing the impact their online platforms and presence have, so they’re hiring UX Designers in droves to work on websites and products that function seamlessly. As the city’s job market expands, so too will the need for professionals who can craft compelling, easy-going online experiences.
A Quick Guide to Mastering UX Design
- Study design principles: Start by learning the core principles of UX design, such as accessibility and intuitive design. You can also familiarize yourself with wireframes and prototypes.
- Understand user needs: Conduct thorough user research to gain a deeper understanding of your target audience's needs and pain points.
- Practice with technology: To efficiently create your prototypes, you’ll also need to become comfortable using today’s most popular design tools, such as Figma and Adobe XD.
- Study successful UX cases: Learn more about successful tools and products to understand what works well for users and doesn’t. Pay close attention to how companies solve problems and why they make certain design choices.
- Revise and get feedback: Test your work and gather feedback from others. Learning to incorporate these critiques into revised designs will ensure you can implement solutions based on real-world insights.
Popular UX Design Classes
The UX design certificates listed below are designed to help professionals jump-start their careers by targeting the most in-demand skills and tools required for an entry-level position. There are also plenty of shorter classes that last a few days and only target a particular skill or software program. These classes are an excellent way to introduce yourself to the world of UX design before deciding to invest in a more extended course.
Noble Desktop's Intro to HTML & CSS is a great place to start. HTML and CSS are the most basic programming languages needed for creating a functional website. This introductory class teaches students the steps to code a simple website and prepares them for more advanced design classes.
- Students can complete this class in one weekday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm EST.
- This class is offered remotely through live online sessions, but students who live in or near New York City can attend in person at Noble’s campus in Manhattan.
- Students will receive six hours of hands-on instruction. The topics covered in the program include using HTML to format headings and paragraphs, creating links, adding images, and leveraging CSS to style web pages.
- Tuition for this class is $395. Because financing options are unavailable, you can save by taking one of Noble’s comprehensive web design certificates, which includes this material.
- Each student will receive a workbook created by industry professionals to refer to during and after class. They are also guaranteed small class sizes to ensure everyone has ample access to attention and support. Noble also offers free retakes within one year.
- Each session is live, but all classes are recorded, and students can access these videos for 30 days after the class ends.
- Upon completion of the class, students will also receive a digital certificate to display in their portfolios and on LinkedIn.
Likewise, the Figma Masterclass at Noble is a targeted class that unlocks everything Figma has to offer. It teaches aspiring designers how to use Figma’s basic features and more advanced techniques so students leave with the skills they need to create professional designs efficiently.
- This class is offered on a part-time and full-time schedule. The full-time version lasts for three weekdays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm EST, and the part-time schedule is six weekday evenings from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm EST.
- This class is available live online, but students living in the New York City area can attend in person.
- Through 18 hours of expert instruction, students will complete assignments related to building interactive prototypes, using layers to build a design system, and designing on grids. The class also covers best practices for sharing projects via Team Libraries.
- The tuition is $995. Financial aid or other financing options aren’t available for this class, but the same material is taught in some of their design certificate programs, which provide tuition support.
- Students can retake this class for free within one year of their original course date.
- All sessions are held live, but classes are recorded so students can revisit the material if they miss a class or want to brush up on more challenging topics. These recordings are accessible for 30 days after class ends.
- At the end of class, students will receive a digital completion certificate, which they can add to their portfolios or showcase on their LinkedIn profiles.
In this UX/UI Design Certificate from NYC Career Centers, you’ll learn what it takes to design digital applications that are visually appealing and accessible to all users. You’ll dive into concepts like wireframing, user testing, and prototyping while expanding your digital portfolio that you can showcase to prospective clients and employers.
- This class has a full-time and part-time schedule. The full-time program lasts six weeks, and the part-time version takes 24 weeks to complete.
- This class takes place live in a virtual classroom. However, students who are local to NYC can attend in person if they prefer. NYC Career Centers also allows participants to switch modalities during the course if needed.
- This certificate provides 144 hours of hands-on instruction. Students will learn essential design concepts throughout class to ensure they build visually appealing websites and applications. They’ll also learn how to analyze user research data and use Figma to bring their designs to life.
- The cost for this certificate is $3,495. NYC Career Centers offers flexible financing options; students can also complete their payments in installments before class begins. Students can also retake the class for free within one year.
- Regarding career support, this course provides each student with several one-on-one mentoring sessions, during which they can receive help with interview tips and resume development, and ensure they’re on track with their educational goals.
- Each session is held live on Zoom, but classes are recorded. After the class ends, students can review these recordings as often as they’d like for 30 days.
- Students who complete the class will receive a digital completion certificate. This course has also been licensed by the New York State Department of Education.