The Google UX Design Certificate offered on Coursera has gained attention from aspiring UX Designers looking to break into the field and potentially make a career change. In this article, we take a look into the Google UX Design Certificate, breaking down the cost, curriculum, skills acquired, and who this popular program is most appropriate for.
What is the Google UX Design Certificate Course?
Offered in partnership with Coursera, the Google UX Design Certificate is designed for individuals who are new to user experience design and looking to make a move into UX Design as a career. The program is fully beginner-friendly, with no prior experience needed in design to get started.
Over the course of seven learning modules, participants learn to empathize with users, define user needs, create wireframes and prototypes, conduct usability testing, and more. Students will also have the opportunity to learn how to work in Figma and Adobe XD, which are essential design tools taught in the program. These tools are used to create a professional UX design portfolio to showcase UX design work. One of the courses offered in the certificate is 'Responsive Web Design in Figma'. Additionally, there are sections of learning dedicated to other important skills, such as iterative feedback and understanding UI basics, all of which are central to making a skill into a UX career.
An entry-level UX designer's role includes coming up with ideas to address user problems, conducting research with users, and designing wireframes, mockups, and prototypes.
Does the Google UX Design Certificate Offer Mentorship?
The Google UX Design Certificate program has been created by Top Instructors at Google. These are experts that Google has identified as quality course creators to put together materials for their partnered offerings. Rather than being synchronous time in the course, these individuals have put together learning materials such as videos and readings for learners to access at any time.
The support system for the Google UX Design Certificate primarily revolves around community forums and peer feedback: direct mentorship isn't a standard feature of the course. Instead, learners can interact with peers through discussion forums, which are the primary resource for answering questions and receiving feedback on projects.
What Will I Get Out of the Projects and Curriculum?
Students who receive a Google UX Design Certificate will create a portfolio, with three projects to showcase upon completion of the program. The course guides students through the entire UX design process, including empathizing, defining, ideating, conducting research, creating prototypes, and designing for social good. Additionally, the program covers the importance of UX research as a crucial aspect of the curriculum, contributing to great user experience design.
Students also demonstrate an understanding of Figma through hands-on project work (while the curriculum used to focus more heavily on XD, it has been adapted since the discontinuation of the tool). This means that students will walk away with the ability to demonstrate what they’ve learned in a comprehensive, project-based manner.
Since there is no mentorship or professional feedback offered through the Google UX Design Certificate, all work is reviewed exclusively by peers who are also coming through the program, including finalized portfolio projects. This means that a beginner designer can plausibly graduate from the program without having their work viewed by an industry professional.
For someone who has existing significant design experience, or is happy to find a mentor on their own if they feel they need extra guidance, this may pose no problems. However, individuals who are complete beginners may benefit from a program that offers more consistent and thorough feedback as a built-in benefit.
Does the Program Offer Career Support?
The Google UX Design Certificate offers graduate support in the same way the rest of the course is structured: through asynchronous, online, and pre-prepared materials. Users will have access to resume reviews, interview prep, and career support that have been put together by the course creators.
Additionally, Google Career Certificates provide access to a job board of employers connected by the Google Career Certificates Employer Consortium.
What is the Duration and Cost of the Google UX Design Certificate?
The Google UX Design Certificate is a flexible program. It’s a fully self-paced course with a recommended time commitment of 10 hours per week over six months; however, there is no hard set deadline, and students can work through the material at a faster or slower pace if they please.
In terms of pricing, Google UX Design is one of the lower-cost self-learning programs out there. Learners can trial the curriculum for 7 days at no cost, and then pay a flat fee of $49.00 USD per month under Coursera's professional certificate monthly subscription. This means that at 10 hours per week, users could plausibly get through the entirety of the curriculum and only pay about $300 USD.
To get your feet wet with UX, or if you’re a very self-motivated learner, it’s a highly competitive price point, with few other programs on the market coming in that affordable. However, the Google UX Design Certificate offers very little in terms of structure, real-time support, feedback from a professional, or career support. This means it could be a great option for some select students, but a challenging learning model for others.
Is the Google UX Design Certificate Worth It?
The Google UX Design Certificate offers both pros and cons for those looking to make a shift into UX Design. If you’re simply looking to learn more about what UX Design is all about, and whether or not it’s the right choice for you as a field generally, it can be a low-cost and low-commitment entry point into learning more.
The program may also be appropriate for students who have existing design experience from another field, such as graphic design: while the curriculum does provide some UI learning, it’s much more UX-focused, which can leave holes in a portfolio when it comes to the visual design aspect—especially for a complete beginner. The program is aimed at job titles such as UX designer, interaction designer, and UI designer. User-centered design is a foundational concept in UX design, emphasizing its importance in creating great user experiences.
However, for students who are looking for more comprehensive support, guidance, and mentorship, a more rigorous and structured program will be more likely to set the stage for success. This is especially true for students who want to make sure they’re graduating from a learning program with a unique portfolio and very strong and holistic understanding of the UX Design experience: these are the main things that will set you up for success when trying to land a job. A UX designer focuses on the user experience, conducts research, designs wireframes and prototypes, and participates in design sprints. UX designers aim to make everyday interactions useful, enjoyable, and accessible for users.
Conclusion
There are many ways to go about learning UX – and for self-motivated individuals who are particularly budget-conscious, the Google UX Design Certificate could be an excellent option. That said, those looking for a more structured experience that will fully prepare them for the job market may want to explore some of the other, more supported options that offer mentorship, career placement, and more.
Looking to transition into a UX/UI Design career? Learn more about UX Academy and how to get started here.
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