For years, in-person studies at traditional institutions have not been the only way to improve ourselves and access education, as courses offered by online platforms are increasingly gaining prominence.
We have tested three of the main online course platforms (Lynda, Coursera, and Udemy) to see what differences exist between them and what they offer for professionals who want to get started in user experience (UX) and digital content design.
Below, we share our impressions and recommendations.
This platform states that they not only offer courses but also the opportunity to build your personal study plan to find your path to professional growth. Their offering claims to have over 700 courses and 50 career paths.
In other words, they aim to deliver what they call the "Learning Path," which translates into a package of study programs by area. For example, in Design and UX, they have 80 courses, but if you go to User Experience Design, that package consists of 17 courses, 26 in Graphic Design, 17 in Interface Design, etc.
To start studying, you must choose between two plans: Basic for 34,900 pesos per month and Expert, which adds exclusive services, for a single payment of 250,900 pesos annually (equivalent to 20,909 per month).
User Experience Design (UX Design): At the basic level, it starts with Introduction to Design, Usability, and Introduction to UX Writing. At the intermediate level, you will cover Information Architecture, Lean UX, Mobile Interface Design, User-Centered Design, etc. At the advanced level, you will see UX Process Management, Design Sprint, Business Model Canvas, among other interesting courses.
Interface Design (UI): The Basic level starts with Introduction to Design, Fundamentals of UI and UX Interface Design, Design Thinking with Minds Garage, etc. At the intermediate level, they cover Mobile Interface Design, Mobile Prototype Design, and Design Sprint, among other topics. At the advanced level, they cover Digital Illustration with Vectors, Illustration for Digital Products, Copywriting with Storytelling Techniques, etc.
As its name suggests, this is an institution completely focused on courses in UX, Design Thinking, User Research, Interaction Design, etc. Its offering consists of 30 courses for beginners, intermediate, and advanced professionals, granting corresponding industry-recognized certificates. It is a non-profit organization that has set itself the mission of reducing the cost of design education.
They themselves encourage you to take all their courses to advance your career, paying a flat fee of US$11 per month. A relevant point is that evaluations are graded by subject matter experts, not by machines.
Finally, they have created a community, and membership allows us to connect with a network of UX professionals, as well as participate in meetings organized in nearly 500 cities worldwide.
User Experience: The Beginner's Guide: This is an introduction to the study areas encompassed by "user experience," reviewing the key design principles established over the last four decades that form the basis of a product or service's user experience. It also covers key psychological principles, cognitive processes, visual perception, design examples, and the importance of usability, among other topics.
User Research: Methods and Best Practices: A course for intermediate-level professionals, which explains what qualitative user research is and its usefulness, how to adapt user research to a design process, planning user research projects, usability testing, user interviews, user observations, etc.
This platform offers over 500 courses and specializations in many areas such as Illustration and Drawing, Design, Animation & 3D, Photography, Digital Marketing, Music, Crafts, etc.
The area we should select to find UX courses is Web, where there are also plans for Web Design, e-commerce, Front End, and Mobile Design.
To access all courses, you must choose between three memberships: Plus for 23,999 pesos per month, Premium for 82,000 annually (equivalent to 6,834 per month), and Family (up to 4 accounts) for 149,000 (12,417 per month).
Fundamentals of UX & UI: An introductory level, where you will see modules such as UX/UI Harmony, Usability in UX, Achieving a Holistic Vision, and UX/UI Design: From Ideas to Prototypes, among others.
User Experience: From Research to Ideation: An intermediate-level course where you can see modules such as Preparing the Research: Understanding, Empathizing and Defining Our Research, and UX Research Toolkit, among others.
A platform with over two decades of existence that became part of LinkedIn. It allows individual or corporate subscriptions, where members, by paying a monthly fee, have unlimited access to the entire library of courses, which are taught by renowned industry experts.
It offers a free trial, which lasts 1 month for individual customers. When you sign up, you must enter a payment method, so if you do not wish to continue after the trial period, you must cancel your subscription in time to avoid extra charges.
The interface offers courses organized by categories, and for each course, the total duration in hours/minutes and the target level are specified. Course content is delivered through audio and video, in addition to providing students with a transcript and supplementary material for download.
The table of contents is easily identifiable, allowing you to quickly jump to the video of interest. Upon completion, you can include the certificates on your LinkedIn profile and it provides very accurate suggestions for other courses that might be of interest.
They have a Premium version that allows you to view courses offline, by downloading them, from the website or the application.
User Experience for Web Design: a course for beginner professionals in User Experience (UX). In almost two hours of content, you will review the basic and essential concepts you need to master when creating a website.
Foundations of UX: Information Architecture: a course for professionals who are starting in information architecture (IA). You will learn what IA is and you will be able to practice, step by step, how to carry out a successful Card Sorting.
A platform with over 10 million students, more than 100,000 courses in various disciplines, and its premise is that each student studies at their own pace.
It does not offer a free trial, and each course must be paid for separately. What it does offer is a reduced number of videos that serve as a preview of the course before you enroll. A tip: once you have completed a course, the platform constantly offers, via email, promotions of up to 50% discount to continue studying.
Each course has a description of what will be learned, an expandable table of contents, duration in hours, and the target level. All of this, along with the language, as this platform offers content in 4 different languages. It is worth highlighting the "ask the instructor" section where you can also see comments from other students.
Sketch 3: learn to create mobile and web designs: a course with over 6 hours of content that is constantly updated. Here you will find tips, tricks, and tutorials with everything you need to know about
Sketch, a Mac application that more and more professionals are using for designing and prototyping digital projects. While it is a course that covers an infinite number of topics, sometimes unrelated, you are sure to find more than one useful tip.
Unlike the other 2 platforms, which offer courses associated with professors, here the name of the institutions that teach the courses carries weight.
It is worth highlighting the interface, the fact that you can log in almost instantly by connecting with Facebook, and then simply enter your interests and start studying.
On this platform, you pay per course, but there is an option to only audit, meaning you only view the course content without obtaining a final certificate. To obtain said certificate, students must pay the course fee and achieve a minimum score on assignments, which will be evaluated by the professor and also by other students.
The platform allows you to study at your own pace, but it differs from other interfaces by always monitoring the progress of its students, sending email reminders and proposing deadlines for each unit and assignment.
Introduction to User Experience Design: a course taught by the Georgia Tech Institute of Technology. Its content takes us, step by step, through the 4 stages that make up the design cycle of an interface: requirements gathering, design alternatives, prototyping, and evaluation. It is designed to be completed in 5 weeks, dedicating 1 or 2 hours per week.
User Experience: Research & Prototyping: a course taught by the University of California San Diego. It seeks to explain what product design means and what it involves. Although it deals with design in general, and not just digital interfaces, it provides interesting viewpoints on what motivates professionals to start in this area and the meaning of this work. It highlights the interview with Michael Chapman, a professional currently working at IDEO.
What other relevant courses for getting started in UX through MOOC platforms do you know? What has been your experience with online training?
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