The 9 Best Courses on Coursera for Designers & Creatives

People are curious by nature and thanks to the internet, anyone curious about a topic or looking to expand their skills or even learn a new skill can take classes online on their time. One of the best options for taking classes online is through the courses that are available on Coursera. Coursera offers numerous courses and works with leading universities and companies.

With people focusing on self-improvement more than ever these days, we wanted to shine a light on The 9 Best Courses on Coursera for Creatives to give you some choices should you be looking to start down a new path in 2020.

The 9 Best Courses on Coursera for Designers & Creatives

Choosing the best courses on Coursera isn’t an easy thing to do. With the number of courses available, you can’t go wrong with any course. For our list though, we narrowed it down to the top 9 courses to help you further your career.

Now while Coursera offers a 7-day free trial, they do offer their courses on a subscription plan of $49 a month. Below are our choices for the 9 Best Courses on Coursera for Creatives.

• Graphic Design
• Interaction Design
• User Experience Research and Design
• UI / UX Design
• User Interface Design
• Introduction to User Experience Design
• Design Thinking
• An Introduction to Accessibility and Inclusive Design
• Mobile Interaction Design: How to Design Usable Mobile Products and Services

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Graphic Design Specialization

Created by: California Institute of Arts | Cost: 7-day free trial then $49/month | Duration: Approx 6 months (4hrs/week)

Offered by the California Institute of the Arts, the Graphic Design Specialization course is designed the give students the formal and conceptual tools for succeeding in graphic design.
Broken into five courses including Fundamentals of Graphic Design, Introduction to Typography, Introduction to Imagemaking, Ideas from the History of Graphic Design, and Brand New Brand.

Designed to be completed within 6 months, students will learn how to communicate using typography and image-making as well as completing a capstone project that you can add to your professional profile, and learn everything you need to know to work in motion graphics, editorial, and interface design.

The goal of this course is to make learners aware of the set of transferable formal and conceptual tools in graphic design. This helps learners study graphic designing and start further work in editorial design, motion graphics, and interface design.

Interaction Design Specialization

Created by: UC San Diego | Cost: 7-day free trial then $49/month | Duration: Approx 11 months (4hrs/week)

Created by the faculty at UC San Diego, the Interaction Design Specialization course teaches students how to bring joy, instead of frustration to people through technology design. Along with learning how to generate design ideas, the course also teaches the principles of visual design, perception, and cognition for effective interaction design. Made up of eight courses, these include topics such as Design Principles, Social Computing, Input & Interaction, and Information Design,

Developed to be an engrossing course that can be completed within 11 months, through the completion of the course, not only will you have a capstone project that you can add to your portfolio but you will also develop skills in Storyboarding, Heuristic Evaluation, R Programming, and A/B Testing.

User Experience Research and Design Specialization

Created by: University of Michigan | Cost: 7-day free trial then $49/month | Duration: Approx 8 months (5hrs/week)

The University of Michigan offers students the opportunity to take their User Experience Research and Design Specialization course that will help them create a great product by understanding a user’s needs, rapidly generating prototypes as well as the evaluating of design concepts. With six individual courses within the specialization, topics cover everything from Understanding User Needs to UX Design: From Concept to Prototype.

Completed in 8 months, students gain hands-on experience of taking a product through the entire journey starting from initial concept to user research, ideation, and refinement. Through the use of formal analysis, prototyping, user testing, and then applying those perspectives and methods to create a great experience for every user. This course helps students to take a project to an interactive level from the initial concept by incorporating the UX Research and Design principles.

UI / UX Design Specialization

Created by: California Institute of Arts | Cost: 7-day free trial then $49/month | Duration: Approx 8 months (4hrs/week)

Another specialization from the California Institute of Arts, UI/UX Design is divided into four separate courses covering the Visual Elements of UI Design, the UX Design Fundamentals, and Web Design with focuses on Strategy and Information Architecture as well as the process from Wireframes to Prototypes. All these courses are tailored to provide a design-centric approach to UI/UX design and then offer practical, skill-based instructions centered around a visual communications perspective.

The specialization is designed to be completed in 8 months and will teach students skills that will help them in their future careers including strategy, UI and UX Design, Website Wireframes, and User Research. Students enrolled are eligible for an extended free trial of a full product suite from the Optimal Workshop.

In this course, learners gain experience in both visual and non-visual exercises. They acquire knowledge of organizing and structuring screen-based content. It helps them in creating wireframes and visual mockups. By the end of the course, they will be able to produce a digital prototype that is fully functional and a comprehensive plan for a complex website.

User Interface Design Specialization

Created by: University of Minnesota | Cost: 7-day free trial then $49/month | Duration: Approx 5 months (4hrs/week)

Provided by the University of Minnesota, the User Interface Design Specialization is covered in five courses that will teach students industry-standard theories as well as methods to successfully developing user interfaces. These courses include topics such as an Introduction to UI Design, Evaluating User Interfaces, as well as Design and Prototyping.

Taking 5 months to complete, students will be fluent in user research along with evaluation and prototyping practices that are necessary to create a good user experience through intuitive interfaces. This all culminates with the completion of an in-depth Capstone Project that can be shown to prospective employers whom you interview.

Introduction to User Experience Design

Created by: Georgia Tech | Cost: 7-day free trial then $49/month | Duration: Approx 7 hours (1 – 2 hrs/week)

Developed by Georgia Tech, the Introduction to User Experience Design is geared towards novice students, who may have heard the terms “user experience” or “user interface” but otherwise aren’t familiar with either topic. The overall goal of the course is to meet the needs that students have in the most effective efficient and satisfying way possible.

Completed in only 7 hours, students learn about the four-step user interface cycle and are also introduced to techniques used to gather information about what the user needs and how to design based on these needs and then ensure the needs are met through evaluation. With the roadmap the course provides, anyone can be a UX designer at the end of the course.

Design Thinking

Created by: HEC Paris | Cost: 7-day free trial then $49/month | Duration: Approx 33 hours (6-10 hrs/week)

Part of the Managing Innovations and Design Thinking Specialization from HEC Paris, the Design Thinking course provides students with the opportunity to experiment and discover creative insights and innovative solutions using a systematic approach. Broken into four modules that cover Organizational setting for Design Thinking, Inspiration-Data Collection and Analysis, and an Overall approach to Design Thinking.

Easily completed in 33 hours, students learn how to recognize the specific types of situations where analytical approaches are not efficient and where using design thinking is a more effective solution. Following a clear and structured process, the course helps students understand what design thinking is, its principles, foundations, and main phases.

An Introduction to Accessibility and Inclusive Design

Created by: University of Illinois | Cost: 7-day free trial then $49/month | Duration: Approx 22 hours (6-10 hrs/week

The University of Illinois has developed An Introduction to Accessibility and Inclusive Design course to introduce the fundamental principles of accessibility and also helps to prepare learners for further courses in inclusive design and accessibility. The syllabus is built around four separate modules covering topics such as Accessible Digital Materials and Univeral Design. A course orientation helps you become familiar with the course before starting.

A shorter course than the others on our list, the Accessibility, and Inclusive Design course can be completed in 22 hours. Within that time, students will learn how to explore adaptive strategies, assistive technologies, and major types of disabilities. Spotlight videos help to provide firsthand perspectives on disability, plus topics such as disability etiquette, accommodation in higher learning, universal design, campus accessibility policy, and accessibility in a corporate setting.

Mobile Interaction Design: How to Design Usable Mobile Products and Services

Created by: National Research University HSE | Cost: 7-day free trial then $49/month | Duration: Approx 39 hours (3-14 hrs/week)

These days, every mobile app provides people with something. Whether that is the latest weather report or a way to order a new pair of jeans, there is someone behind that app making the app provide you with what you need. The Mobile Interaction Design: How to Design Usable Mobile Products and Services course provided by the National Research University HSE teaches students how to shape mobile products and services for people to use through its 10-week course.

At the end of the course, students will be able to improve the designs of mobile products and services through the elimination of different kinds of problems with interaction. This along with being able to design user interfaces for adding new features or even redesigning an app to work in a new and better way.

The 9 Best Courses on Coursera for Creatives

Taking courses online has never been easier in 2020 and for any creative looking to either expand their skills or start a new career, taking courses on Coursera is a perfect option. We hope our list of the 9 Best Courses on Coursera for Creatives has given you some ideas of which class you might want to start today.

Have you taken a great class, don’t see it on our list, and want to share what it is? Let us know in the comments below!!