Online | Fit to your Schedule | University Accreditation | Industry-approved
Deadline for applications: January 7th 2025.
Commencement Date: January 14th 2025.
A bespoke university-accredited and industry-approved 6-month programme for Designers and Creatives, combining online learning and live webinars to further develop your skills and build successful careers in UX, one of the most in-demand skills in the Design industry.
Register your interest Now
UX skills are highly in demand and are fundamental for anyone creating digital products.
UX design combines a unique mix of psychology, technology and design. Without them, the world can become a complicated, frustrating and alienating place. User experience skills such as user research, prototyping, usability and A/B testing, research, target customer personas, wireframing, heatmap analysis and design psychology can revolutionise how a company approaches app development/design processes. Design teams can communicate better when people on the team have UX skills and optimised user experience engages clients and consumers while driving conversion.
Expand your design and creative skillset:
- Learn to think like a UX designer and adopt the mindset that makes them so valuable
- Gain the confidence that comes from a true, deep understanding of the domain
- Have job-ready skills and a portfolio of work to prove it
- Achieve a university-accredited qualification
- Earn an industry-approved and globally recognised Diploma
Programme and syllabus:
What’s covered in the course*
These are the eleven comprehensive modules in the course that cover all aspects of best practice UX design
Introduction to UX Design
User Research
Analysis Techniques
Structure and Navigation
Interactions
Design Principles
Design Patterns
Workflows
Mobile
Prototyping and handover
Creating your portfolio
- AI tools for UX
*scroll down for details on each module.
How does it work?
The Professional Diploma in UX Design is available to study online via our best-in-class learning management system, which we handpicked due to its user experience design and its two live webinars hosted by the course mentor which will give you a unique opportunity to ask questions, gather feedback and seek advice from an experienced UX professional in a small group environment.
Your learning will be supported by:
- High-definition video lectures with accompanying downloadable course material for 11 modules on best UX practice
- 12 practical UX projects for hands-on experience
- Guided, step-by-step practical exercises with guidance on how to develop your own portfolio
- Ongoing support from the student success and career team to support you during your study and assist with any administrative-related queries
- A dedicated Slack channel that allows you to interact with fellow students
- Mentoring sessions
- Two bespoke exclusive workshops with subject-matter experts
- Monthly UX insider live events and webinars connecting you with world-class trainers and mentors
- A six-month study structure or self-paced 12 months duration option
Who should attend?
The programme is suitable for Designers, Creatives, Software Developers, Product Designers, Project Managers, Digital Marketers, Account Managers and Content Managers.
Application:
Spaces are limited, so book early to avoid disappointment
Register your interest
Fees:
Design Skillnet subsidised government-funded rate*: €1775
Full rate: €3250
**Member rates apply to members of IDI, ICAD, IAPI, 100 Archive who are private sector or commercial semi-state organisations based in the Republic of Ireland.
Please note the cost of flights and accommodation for the exchange visit or travel to Dublin are not included in the programme fee. Installment plans can be discussed.
More information on Design Skillnet subsidies eligibility requirements. Please contact us directly at info@designskillnet.ie to discuss your interest and membership options.
Watch the testimonial of a fellow designer course alumni:
Do you have a question?
Do you have a question about the programme’s content?
Contact us at info@designskillnet.ie to book a call with a course advisor.
About UX Design Institute
The UX Design Institute is setting the gold standard in UX education across the globe. Formerly known as UX Training, they have trained thousands of digital professionals across the globe and helped them pursue successful careers in UX design. Their alumni now work as UX designers with some of the world’s leading companies; Google, Facebook, IBM, Aer Lingus, Accenture, Vodafone, Virgin, Dell, Three, WorkDay and many more.
Design Skillnet training focuses on helping designers and creatives in their careers and their businesses to up-skill their teams and attract and service clients in a rapidly changing commercial landscape.
Content
This module will give you a strong, foundational understanding of the user experience design process. You’ll learn that UX design is a problem-solving discipline, focused on building products that solve problems for the user. You’ll also get a clear sense of the role of research in design, which will be explored fully in Module 2.
Lessons include:
• User experience
• Functional design
• Product integrity
• Product desirability
• UX design process
• Process benefits
• UX and Agile process
• User interface design
• Humans v. machines
• Feature overload
• Shortcuts
• Prototyping
• Prioritisation
• Goals, behaviours, context
• Paradox of specificity
• Mental models
This module will help you to see research as the key ingredient underpinning UX design. Strong, focused research is fundamental to understanding the problems we are attempting to solve for users. You’ll learn about a range of research techniques, including the core skill of usability testing, as well as methods such as interviewing, card sorting, online surveys, A/B testing and heuristic evaluation.
Lessons include:
• Research landscape
• Qualitative research
• Quantitative research
• Observational / attitudinal
• Research bias
• Phrasing questions
• Usability testing
• Defining test objectives
• Test scripts
• Finding users
• Desktop / mobile setups
• Card sorting
• Depth interviews
• Online surveys
• Stakeholder interviews
• A/B testing
• Heuristics
• Heuristic rating scheme
When you analyse research data, you can clearly articulate the problems you’re attempting to solve for the user. This module will look at a number of frameworks and techniques that will help you make sense of large volumes of raw data and truly understand the problems to be solved.
Lessons include:
• Triangulation
• Affinity diagrams
• Customer journey map
• Personas
• Customer value curve
• Empathy map
Before you design screens, you have to step back and consider the structure of your software and how you want users to flow through it. In this module, you’ll learn how to define a clear structure and information architecture for your software. This in turn will help you to design intuitive navigation and a smooth flow for your users.
Lessons include:
• Information architecture
• Flow diagrams
• Screen states
• Navigation
• Global and local navigation
• Horizontal and vertical navigation
Interaction design is where the rubber begins to hit the road. This is where we get to define what happens when people ‘touch’ our software. How does it respond when users enter data? Press buttons? Click on navigation? This module will teach you the components of an interaction and how these components – controls, rules and feedback – facilitate an interaction.
Lessons include:
• Interactions
• Micro-interactions
• Anatomy of an interaction
• Controls
• Rules
• Feedback
• Wireframes
• Sketching
Design principles are proven guidelines and rules for effective design. They stem from different disciplines including advertising, architecture and software development. You’ll learn why using design principles as reference points will increase the probability that your designs and software will be successful.
Lessons include:
• Affordances
• Conventions
• Feedback
• Constraints
• Forgiveness
• Hick’s Law
• Fitts’s Law
• Progressive disclosure
• Perceivability
• Predictability
In this module, you’ll be introduced to the concept of design patterns. By using these common solutions, your designs will be more perceivable and predictable for your users. You’ll also learn about concepts including chunking, affordances, alignment and visual hierarchy, which all help to make better, more usable software.
Lessons include:
• Chunking
• Alignment
• Label alignment
• Call-to-action
• Visual hierarchy
• Progress indicators
• Digital affordances
• Pattern libraries
• Smart defaults
• Help
• Error handling
• Inline validation
This module focuses on designing effective mobile applications. You’ll understand the key differences between responsive websites, mobile websites and native applications. You’ll also learn about different mobile application types and gain an understanding of mobile design patterns.
Lessons include:
• Mobile landscape
• Design considerations
• Responsive websites
• Mobile websites
• Native apps
• The rationale for apps
• App framework
• App types
• Unbundling
• Flows
• Mobile navigation
• Mobile navigation patterns
• Input types
• Content v. navigation
• Tap targets
• Notifications
• Displaying content
As you learn how to design effective workflows in this module, you will enable users to complete common tasks like registration, onboarding and sign in. You’ll also be introduced to complex forms and payment flows, along with techniques to improve user trust in your designs.
Lessons include:
• Registration
• Onboarding
• Onboarding styles
• Sign in
• Complex forms
• Structuring complex forms
• Minimising workload on forms
• Payment
• Payment flow
• Microtasks (or modes)
In this module, you’ll be equipped with the skills and knowledge to build prototypes and compile wireframe documentation. You’ll understand the differences between high, medium, and low fidelity prototypes. You’ll also be introduced to the concept of wireframing and learn how to create effective handover documentation.
Lessons include:
• Low-fidelity prototypes
• Medium-fidelity prototypes
• High-fidelity prototypes
• Choosing the right prototype
• Wireframes
• Creating a clickable prototype
• Getting to a higher fidelity
• Handover documentation
• Annotating your designs
A portfolio is essential for any UX professional. In your final module, you’ll learn how to structure your portfolio to best showcase your skills and your thought process. You’ll recognise the importance of a well-structured case study in telling the story of your work. And, you’ll find out where to get UX experience before you’ve landed your first role.
Lessons include:
• Introduction to portfolios
• Structuring your case studies
• Building your portfolio
• Expanding your portfolio
Get assessed on your knowledge through a final exam.
'The programme was very well run. The UX experience itself was excellent and the flexibility and bite-sized chunks made it practical and easy to fit around a busy work and life schedule. The new certification has really helped shape my thinking and approach to new projects. Bringing in the new learnings to my day-to-day processes has noticeably improved both my research and design output.'
'I think it is vital for any Designer to upskill in UX Design. With technology and mobile use on the rise, it’s not only important for something to look good but to flow with function. The course gave me the confidence to research and design with the User in mind. This has improved my design output and I am now able to effectively communicate through Wireframes and Prototypes to Developers.'
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If you are interested in securing a place on this course, please fill in the application form to the right.