20 UX Design Courses and Bootcamps for Beginners and Experts

These days, the user is king. Building an intuitive app or website that accommodates user needs and behaviors requires ample time and know-how. To tackle these issues, many software development businesses are utilizing the help of user experience (UX) design professionals.

UX designers have become commonplace in the software development realm, being the workers behind the scenes to translate code into a usable app experience. Those in this role are responsible for extensive user research and testing, mocking up and wireframing designs based on user input, elevating designs into high-fidelity prototypes and collaborating with developers. 

With the boom of app and web development, the demand for UX and digital designers is rapidly increasing, with the field projected to grow 23 percent by 2031. As such, UX design bootcamps, courses and degree programs have blossomed for those wanting to enter the field.

UX Design Courses vs. UX Bootcamps

A UX design course and a UX bootcamp are two different educational options for learning UX design, giving professionals choices in how they’d like to learn based on their personal needs. Before picking one specific option, here’s what to know about both.

What Is a UX Design Course?

A UX design course tends to be a more flexible option for professionals who have existing responsibilities but would like some UX design education. These courses usually require part-time attendance during a one to six month timeframe, depending on the provider. Many of these courses can also be offered as self-paced and focus on theoretical or practical UX applications based on student preferences.

What Is a UX Bootcamp?

A UX bootcamp tends to be a more traditional, in-depth and fast-paced educational experience for those wanting to learn UX design. These bootcamps can range in duration from one to 10 months and usually require full-time attendance. UX bootcamps also tend to be more expensive than courses and involve learning both theoretical and practical applications of UX design, ultimately preparing graduates for employment in the field.

Whether you’re shifting career lanes or simply filling a skill gap on your résumé, here are 20 options for breaking into the UX design industry.

More on Design and UXUI Versus UX: What Is the Difference?

Online UX Design Courses and Bootcamps

Thinkful’s UX/UI Design Bootcamp

Thinkful’s three-module online bootcamp starts with design fundamentals (including mockups and user testing), moves into a design intensive (which includes building interactive prototypes) and wraps up with a project assessment. Students will finish at least three projects before the track’s end. And although it’s entirely online, they can expect a fairly robust support network: teaching sessions are live, and students must log on for weekly mentor meetings. Grads have landed work at several high-profile spots, including Microsoft, Dropbox and Buzzfeed.

Cost: $9,500 - $12,150

CAREERFOUNDRY’S UX DESIGN Program

CareerFoundry’s UX Design Program represents one of the more personalized online options, in which students get regular contact with four support contacts: a mentor for portfolio critiques, a tutor for day-to-day support, a student advisor for general assistance and a career specialist to help with job searching. The self-paced track runs between five and 10 months depending on the number of weekly hours you put in (30 full-time vs. 15 part-time). There’s a strong emphasis on portfolio-building, and students get free trial access to several industry-standard programs like Sketch, InVision and Axure. They’re also guaranteed job placement in a UX design role within six months of completion. Graduates have gone on to work at Google, Apple, Paypal, Netflix and many other notable outfits.

Cost: $7,110 - $7,900

DESIGNLAB’S UX ACADEMY

Another flexible online option with a personal touch, the core track for Designlab’s UX Academy bootcamp is available part-time or full-time, preceded by a four-week Design 101 introduction. (Attendees with demonstrable design experience can apply to bypass the intro.) The course includes regular one-on-one video calls with a UX-pro mentor and calls for group critiques. Graduates then have up to six months of access to a career coach who assists with portfolio fine-tuning and offers interview guidance. Grads have gone on to work at Dell, Facebook, Sony and other major companies.

Cost: $7,649 - $9,677

SKILLCRUSH’S USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN Course

Students at this Skillcrush’s User Experience Design Course get the option to beef up their portfolios by completing a design project for a fictional bike rental company. The women- and non-binary-inclusive course covers user research, user journey mapping, wireframing and prototyping through the stretch. Attendees are taught UX tools InVision and Figma, participate in group video-chat Q&As and receive one-on-one instructor feedback. Skillcrush also offers a Visual Designer course, which explores Adobe tools.

Cost: $549

SKILLSHARE’S USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN ESSENTIALS - ADOBE XD UI/UX DESIGN Course

While Adobe’s UX tool, Adobe XD, has its share of skeptics, the company is a veteran player in the digital design realm. For those who consider the program a must-know, this widely popular Skillshare UX course is the way to go. An Adobe Certified Instructor teaches all the core UX principles across almost 10 hours of video tutorial, plus dozens of downloadable resources — all through the lens of XD.

Cost: Skillshare Premium subscription required

SPRINGBOARD’S UX BOOTCAMP

Another online course that makes strides to offer a personal touch, this six-month Springboard UX bootcamp includes one-on-one calls with mentors, unlimited help calls with community members and career coaching, which includes money-back guaranteed job placement within six months of completion. Expect a blend of video lectures, articles and design projects, including a four-week remote client collaboration. 

Cost: $7,900 - $14,500

UDEMY’S USER EXPERIENCE (UX): THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO USABILITY AND UX Course

This popular UX course from Udemy is a fairly deep plunge into UX across 10-plus hours of video lectures, articles and user research projects. The self-paced class — developed by David Travis, part of British UX consultancy Userfocus and author of Think Like a UX Researcher — takes about three weeks to complete based on daily participation of roughly 90 minutes. Another offering from Udemy is its UX & Web Design Master Course which also gets into some coding (UX pros with some coding knowledge significantly increase their marketability) and focuses specifically on usability as related to website-building.

Cost: $79.99

Flatiron School’s UX/UI Design Bootcamp

Flatiron School’s user design bootcamp encompasses 14 areas of UX, UI and digital design study into its multi-week online program. On a full-time or part-time basis, students learn about topics ranging from ethical and inclusive design to information architecture and product strategy. Figma and Webflow how-to’s as well as the creation of a professional portfolio are also included during the bootcamp.

Cost: $16,900

Avocademy’s UX/UI Design Program Bootcamp

This part-time, online UX/UI design bootcamp by Avocademy explores the fundamentals and tools of modern user design. Topics like user research, information architecture and wireframing plus prototyping are all taught with access to one-on-one mentoring and a portfolio building project. Graduates from the bootcamp have gone on to work at companies like IBM, Deloitte, Spectrum and more.

Cost: $1,997

More on Design and UXHere’s How to Achieve Excellence in UX Design

In-Person UX Design Courses and Bootcamps

BRAINSTATION’S UX DESIGN COURSE

This veteran course provider is a strong option for those who prefer in-person learning. Brainstation’s UX Design Course and certification is available on-site or online in several markets (Chicago, NYC, Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver and Toronto). It covers UX fundamentals across four units: UX research and strategies, structuring and planning solutions, high-fidelity design with Figma and communicating design solutions. 

Cost: BrainStation sign-up required.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY’S UX DESIGN IMMERSIVE Bootcamp

Since its inception, General Assembly’s UX Design Immersive bootcamp has placed over 11,000 hires in companies that include Capital One, IBM and Amazon. Offered in-person or online, students learn the fundamentals of UX design iteration, development, collaboration and real-world skills. Personalized job support and opportunities for building a professional portfolio are also offered along the way.

Cost: $15,950

IRONHACK’S UX/UI DESIGN BOOTCAMP

Although headquartered in Madrid, this longtime player in the bootcamp sphere also hosts courses in Miami, Florida and online. The UX/UI bootcamp — available part-time or full-time — includes modules for UX understanding, UI interfaces and design implementation. Students are also given an initial crash course on CSS and HTML programming. Grads have landed jobs at companies including Visa, Capgemini and Indeed.

Cost: $12,500

NOBLE DESKTOP’S UX DESIGN CERTIFICATE Course

New York City-based Noble Desktop offers this on-site or online UX and UI Design Certificate course covering core concepts like user interviews, user flows, sketching, wireframing, client alignment and prototyping. (Students are given access to InVision and Sketch.) Looking to learn more about interface design, as well? Or if you just want an application-specific tutorial, consider the business’ Adobe XD Bootcamp or Sketch in a Day course.

Cost: $3,495

Devmountain’s UX Design Course

Devmountain, a part of Strayer University, hosts a 16-week, part-time UX design course that can be taken online or in-person in Lehi, Utah. Preceded by a consultation and skill review process, the course highlights UX research, prototyping, architecture and design for both websites and software applications. Other resources like career advice, interview prep and employer networking are also available when taking the program.

Cost: $9,900

More on Design and UX20 UI Design Courses and Bootcamps You Need to Know

University-Affiliated UX Design Courses and Bootcamps

CALARTS’ UI/UX DESIGN SPECIALIZATION Courses

Developed by a pair of faculty members from the CalArts School of Arts’ Graphic Design program, this four-course online sequence (offered through Coursera) covers UI design, UX fundamentals, information architecture for web design, wireframing, prototyping and mockups. (Each course is also available individually.) Students can expect to devote roughly four hours per week over eight months.

Cost: Free / certificate of completion paid.

GEORGIA TECH’S INTRODUCTION TO USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN Course

Looking for an intro that’s more comprehensive than a YouTube video but far less of a commitment than a multi-thousand-dollar bootcamp? Consider splitting the difference with this video-driven primer, built and administered by Rosa Arriaga of Georgia Tech’s top-ranked Human Computer Interaction program. Students get an overview of UX design, research and presentation, prototyping and project evaluation.

Cost: Free / certificate of completion paid.

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN’S USER EXPERIENCE RESEARCH & DESIGN SPECIALIZATION Courses

Like Georgia Tech, the University of Michigan carries brand-name clout thanks to its high-ranked UX-focused master’s option, and it also levels knowledge-access barriers with this Coursera-hosted UX Research and Design Specialization course, developed and taught by UM faculty. (Expect to devote more time to this six-course sequence than the above Georgia Tech intro; the overview says it takes about seven months, or five hours of coursework per week, to complete.)

Cost: Free / certificate of completion paid.

UC SAN DIEGO’S INTERACTION DESIGN SPECIALIZATION Courses

This eight-course Interaction Design Specialization sequence, distributed through Coursera, was developed by UCSD design professor Scott Klemmer. Years ago, Klemmer taught future Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, who returned the favor by helping build the requirements for this sequence’s capstone project. Courses leading up to that final cover human-centered design, visual design fundamentals, social computing, input and interaction techniques, UX research and prototyping, information design and how to build and analyze user experiments. (Each course is also available individually.) 

Cost: Free / certificate of completion paid.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - IRVINE’S UX/UI BOOTCAMP

Note that this part-time, 24-week UX/UI bootcamp by UC Irvine is part of its continuing education division, not its Human-Computer Interaction and Design graduate program, which has gained a fair amount of prominence since launching in 2016. Still, the in-depth course — hosted on-site at the UCI campus — has some notable aspects, including exposure to UI component libraries and dev-side languages and platforms like HTML, CSS, GitHub and Bootstrap.

Cost: Information available upon request on bootcamp website.

University of Denver’s UX/UI Bootcamp

The UX/UI Bootcamp offered by the University of Denver provides a wide-range focus of user design for front-end web development, all live and online. Composed of modules spread out over a part-time 24-week duration, students dive into concepts like decision mapping, interface and visual design, prototyping and interaction as well as a final project. Support is also offered through personalized academic success, career resources and access to a network of over 250 employers.

Cost: Information available upon request on bootcamp website.