I completed to Google UX Design Professional Certifcation Coursera Course! YAAAAAAAY! I started the course in August of 2021. So last year I sat down and said let me learn about UX/UI. If you have been following me on this blog, you know I was doing Front End Web Development and taking courses on that subject, but the pandemic, computer issues, and life changed things.
Read more: I Completed The Google UX Design Professsional Certification Course On CourseraI decided to learn about user experience and user interface design because it was something that always interested me. It is also a creative tech career, and that is what I want. I want to do creative things in the tech industry. I am happy I switched gears.
The Class
In total you take and get a certificate for seven individual courses and a certification upon finished everything together. It took over six months to complete the seven classes that combine the whole certification because life happened and I also took breaks. I heard from others that depending on your skill level it could take a month to complete. The people that completed the class in a month already worked in the UX/UI industry, so it was a breeze for them.
Most people regardless of skill level finished the courses in six month. I think I would have finished the course around that time too if I didn’t take breaks since most classes ranged from three weeks to 6 weeks long.
Each class took you through the design process by learning the basics of user experience and interface design, design principles, design systems, research, and the design process itself. You have to complete several design projects for mobile devices and computers. The last project is a responsive design project.
A quick tip for the project. Save time by studying the example projects so that you can work on your actual self-made class projects. The Google example projects that are done along side your actual projects are helpful, but can make you waste time. Also you don’t want to put those on a portfolio because thousands of people are doing this program and will have the same coffee shop/dog walking app on their portfolios too.
I loved the classes and learned a lot from them. They also helped expound on knowledge that I already had. I will say that you will probably need to do more studying and self work during and after the classes. That is ok because the more knowledge the better you will be. One of the things I liked about these classes is that they give you a lot of resources for more information.
Something that I didn’t like is that you are basically on your own when it comes to your projects. They are peer-reviewed. If most of the peers in your classes have your skill level or worse, how can they truly grade you. Some people blatantly copied people’s work and passed it off as their own. I saw first hand how some people didn’t follow directions for either grading the project or for completing the project.
Now to get into the financial aspect of the class. It really isn’t that bad a price at about $36/a month. Once you finish the class, Coursera cancels your payments. If you finish the class sooner you won’t have to pay as much. Most UX bootcamps and courses are priced above $1000.
I also heard you can take the class for free if you choose not to get the certificates. I wanted to put my certs on my LinkedIn profile, so I paid for the course. Coursera has financial aid as well, so check that out if the $36 is too much. Times are hard. Do what you gotta do. Also Coursera and Google give you free trials for Figma and Adobe xD during the class, and link you to some free job search and interviewing resources after you finish the program.
I recommend the Google UX Design Professional Certification course from Coursera as a start for your UX / UI journey or a refresher course if you are already in the industry. Now that I am done, I am looking for a design job. My portfolio with my finished class projects is above as well as my resume, and my LinkedIn is in the paragraph above.