Start learning Figma for UI/UX design. Gain a solid understanding of its capabilities, from creating files, to designing on a grid, working with text/photos/colors, creating components, building prototypes, exporting assets, sharing files, creating animations, and more.
Take your Figma skills to the next level with this advanced prototyping course. Learn to use variables, modes, and conditionals to add more realistic interactivity to your prototypes.
Learn Figma for UI/UX design. Gain a thorough understanding of Figma’s design and prototyping capabilities, from creating designs, turning the into interactive prototypes, sharing them with clients for feedback, and getting user feedback.
Discover the essence of UX Design. From UX vs. UI to usability testing and prototyping, delve into the intricacies of user experience design. Gain practical skills in research, wireframing, and more. Elevate your design game with this comprehensive course.
Learn the skills needed to launch a career in UI design in this advanced course. Gain expertise in UI fundamentals, wireframing, visual design concepts, and more. Build your portfolio through hands-on projects and personalized feedback.
Learn the skills to become a UX/UI Designer. This course covers design concepts, industry tools like Figma, and research methodologies. Get career-focused training, build a portfolio, and receive one-on-one mentoring and prepare for a career in UX/UI design.
Gain essential skills in UI design for websites and mobile apps, including composition, typography, color, and attention to interactivity. Develop a portfolio showcasing your design projects and earn a NY State-approved certificate in UI Design.
UX design takes into account the elements that shape a user’s experience with a product or service, how these elements make the user feel, and how easy it is for them to accomplish their desired tasks. Also known as user experience design, it can cover anything from how a physical product feels in your hand to how easy and efficient the checkout process is when shopping online. The goal of UX design is to create easy, efficient, relevant, and all-around pleasant experiences for the user.
The term “user experience” was coined by cognitive psychologist and Designer Don Norman in the 1990s. These days, apps and websites are most commonly associated with UX design, but the concept of improving a user’s experience through both form and function has existed for much longer. Now implemented by major companies worldwide, from Apple to Samsung, car manufacturers to film and TV streaming services, UX design is a crucial part of product development and customer retention.
As a UX Designer, you can create impactful experiences that improve people’s lives. Your creations can help businesses succeed, solve real-world problems, and make the digital world a more accessible place. If you thrive in a solutions-focused role and care about design, implementation, and testing, then you could find a lot of fulfillment and success as a UX Designer.
UX design is also compatible with many transferable skills, making the transition from other fields a smooth process. Sales, marketing, education, customer service, and design are all fields that use similar skill sets, so if you’re currently in one of these, transitioning to working in web or app design may be easier than you think.
UX Designers can work on a variety of touchpoints, increasing their adaptability and flexibility, making them more valuable employees. A UX Designer can work on websites, mobile apps, watch interfaces, and new ranges of more specialized technologies like Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. If you’re tired of just working on one thing and dream of a more diverse and creative work environment, then UX design could be for you.
According to CNN, UX design roles are considered to be some of the best jobs in the United States. Entering this exciting and lucrative field requires a specific set of skills. Listed below are some of the top skills needed to be successful as a UX Designer, both technical and soft skills. If you already possess some of these, then consider yourself ahead of the curve. If you’re starting from scratch, you can learn all of the below skills in a UX design certification program.
These four elements are essential to UX design and are must-have skills for any UX Designer.
Prototypes and mockups often require specialized UX software. If you’re just starting, you can use a free option, like Origami Studio. Popular paid prototyping tools, like InVision, Sketch, or Adobe XD, typically come with a free trial that allows you to design some prototypes without having to subscribe.
Understanding your user is the first step in the design process, even before solving a user problem or meeting a user’s need. User research will help you make a better product. As you develop prototypes, you’ll conduct user testing to validate your design choices and learn more about how your users interact with your product. Knowing how to iterate through these two user-centric phases can help make you a more effective Designer.
Visual design software, like Figma, Sketch, Photoshop, and Illustrator, is used by UX Designers to create the visual elements of a product. Being proficient in these tools and building your knowledge of visual design best practices for things like typography, color theory, layout, icons, and general design theory will help make you a more successful Designer.
The ability to understand and feel the emotions of others, known as empathy, is a must-have soft skill for UX design. The best UX Designers take the time to learn about people and their inclinations. A deep understanding of how a user would interact with your product and any struggles that may arise helps designers create products that truly engage and delight.
Being a UX Designer involves incorporating the ideas of developers, clients, and team members. You’ll need to effectively give and receive feedback, brainstorm, explore solutions, and incorporate the expertise and needs of everyone involved in a project to create the best products possible. You’ll also take insight from customer service, marketing, and sales to update your product throughout its lifespan and increase user retention.
Generally speaking, UX design isn’t considered very difficult to learn, but it does have its challenges. Your professional background will play a big part in how challenging UX may be. If you’re someone with a background in development, you won’t have to stray too far from your comfort zone as learning UX design is like an extension of your current skills. But, if you have a background in design, you may find the more technical aspects of UX design foreign. Adding research, testing, and even coding to your skill set may require you to stretch yourself in new directions.
UX design is a discipline consisting of a variety of creative and technical skills, and mastering this combination of skills can be particularly challenging for some. Additionally, UX designers often juggle several considerations (visual design, user research, content strategy, usability and accessibility, information architecture, and overall business goals) while also effectively steering a project and communicating findings to a broad array of stakeholders. This all takes a certain level of multi-tasking, focus, drive, and the ability to see the bigger picture. These skills take time to perfect and can be difficult for those who are used to only handling one task at a time.
Comprehensive UX design bootcamps that offer a deep understanding of UX design typically take two months on full-time schedules and six months for part-time learning. Without professional instruction, learning UX & UI design could take much longer. You’ll either be working on your own motivation with free tutorials and guides you can find online, or you’ll be enrolling in an undergraduate or graduate degree program, which will take several years.
Many factors need to be considered when answering this question. Firstly, you’ll need to know what learning environment is best for you. Do you thrive in a collaborative environment that allows you to interact with your peers and receive immediate feedback from your instructor? Or, do you prefer a more solitary learning environment where you can learn at your own speed?
You’ll also need to decide how much time you can commit to your education and what level of flexibility your schedule demands. Do you want to dive deeply into an intensive program? Do you work full-time and require your classes to be scheduled for evening and weekend hours?
In-person classes offer face-to-face interaction with your fellow students and your expert instructor. This collaborative environment is available for full-time and part-time courses and provides structure and accountability, two things that can help you succeed. Online courses may lack this in-person interaction, but they make up for it with increased flexibility. Live virtual courses still benefit from immediate instructor feedback and interactions with other students, while on-demand virtual training allows for the most flexibility since you can decide when and where you learn.
The good news is that, no matter which version you attend, you can obtain a quality UX design education with a top-notch curriculum and expert instructors.
Technically, it is possible to learn UX design for free online. YouTube videos, blogs, and free short workshops can all be a great way to learn the basics without purchasing educational content. (Don’t forget to watch the most recent uploads so you’re learning the latest trends and techniques.)
But, when it comes to the more advanced skills, an in-depth training course is going to be your best bet. These courses will consist of a curriculum developed and taught by experts with the ability to receive feedback or troubleshoot any issues with your instructor or a support team. Formal training can also provide the structure and accountability that some students need to stay focused, creating an environment where you’re more likely to succeed. So, if you’re looking to master more than just the basics, a formal workshop or class is a better option than free online resources.
If you want to make the most of your education, you could consider a few additional subjects to learn alongside UX design. Firstly, UI design would be a good place to start. Standing for ‘user interface, ’ UI design focuses on the look and feel of a product's interface, while UX design focuses on the overall experience a user has with the product. UI design is used to create prototypes and mockups to test the visual design of a product, so studying this subject can offer you a more holistic approach to your work.
Coding and development would also be a worthwhile field of study. Learning the basics of HTML, CSS, and various programming languages can help you gain a better understanding of the back-end of your projects and allow you to collaborate and communicate with your project partners more effectively.
Finally, studying graphic design could be beneficial. As a UX Designer, you’ll focus on the look and feel of webpages and applications, including the images and graphics used. Mastering graphic design can come in handy at smaller companies where team members are often tackling more than one aspect of a project.
The birthplace of the “Star-Spangled Banner, ” Baltimore is a city steeped in history while looking toward the future. It’s this unique combination of both past and present that contributes to the thriving local industries, each with a consistently high demand for UX design experts. The top industries are outlined below so you can begin to get an idea for the fields in which you could work as a UX design professional.
Baltimore County’s strategic location along the East Coast makes it a vital hub for transportation, distribution, and logistics. Regionally, this industry has created 235,538 jobs, $11B in worker income, and 14,000 employers. The numbers are even greater statewide: 462,196 jobs, $22B in worker income, and 33,000 employers. Industry giants like Amazon, Sam’s Club, Walmart, and even the U.S. Postal Service all contribute to the sector’s success.
The Education industry has 5 major colleges and boasts some of Baltimore County’s top employers. More than 760 public and private education organizations employ 24,080 education workers, generating $935M in worker income. According to Niche.com’s 2020 Rankings, Baltimore County’s four-year institutions were ranked among the top 10 colleges in the state, providing both ongoing employment opportunities and a constantly regenerating workforce of highly educated professionals.
Each day over 55,000 government workers report to work in Baltimore County. With easy access to the I-95 corridor, close proximity to Washington D.C., and an abundant skilled and educated workforce, Baltimore County is home to significant federal and local government headquarters.
Located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, Baltimore is home to leading health systems such as Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland Medical Systems, MedStar Health and LifeBridge Health. The state of Maryland gained 1,600 health care jobs in March 2024, creating a total of 7,400 jobs in that sector since the beginning of this year. Maryland's 2.0% growth rate this year in the healthcare sector ranks second nationwide and is nearly double the national rate. Additionally, Baltimore has a strong tradition of innovation in the medtech field. Covidien, a leading medical device company, was founded in the Baltimore area in 1976.
The U.S. Department of Labor and Statistics reports that Web and Digital Interface Designers make an average wage of $101,000. (UX design is often lumped into the same category as user or digital interface), which is substantially more than the average American. UX design jobs can fall under a variety of different job titles, so it’s important to know what keywords to look for and what each job description entails.
The most common job title is UX Designer, with professionals in this role making anywhere from $96,000 to over $111,000 in Baltimore. Many entry-level roles will have this title, giving you a great place to start your search and launch your career. With the national average salary sitting at around $59,000 in the United States, it’s easy to see how lucrative a career as a UX Designer can be.
A UX Architect, or user experience Architect, is a professional who designs and improves the user experience for digital products. They use psychology, design, and technology to create seamless interactions that are intuitive, enjoyable, and functional. Salaries in Baltimore can range widely for a UX Architect, landing around $130,000 depending on the company and your level of experience.
If you prefer to be a little more behind the scenes, focused on the implementing and testing aspects of product development, then you could become a UX Researcher. While perhaps less visible, this role still boasts a salary above the national average, with Baltimore locals making over $109,000 per year.
UX Managers are responsible for ensuring that users have a positive experience with a product by meeting their needs and expectations. This involves a variety of tasks, including conducting user research, designing user interfaces, managing a team of designers and researchers, setting design standards and processes, coaching and mentoring team members, providing feedback on team members' work, and identifying areas for improvement. The average salary in Baltimore for a UX Manager is $125,000.
Offered both online and in-person at select locations (including Orlando), General Assembly hosts this course that’s designed to help you launch a future-proof career in UX design. You’ll learn to distinguish yourself as a Designer by compiling a portfolio to showcase solo, group, and client projects to employers based on UI design and Agile methodologies. The course curriculum covers topics like wireframing, prototyping, user research, usability testing, visual design, and user interface design. Led by UX design veterans who bring in-depth experience straight from the field to the classroom, you’ll get the personalized feedback and support you need to crush your goals every step of the way.
Noble Desktop also offers this more specified course that focuses on Figma’s design and prototyping capabilities that are used by UX designers across the globe. In this class you’ll learn to create designs and then turn them into interactive prototypes that go from screen to screen, open navigation overlays, make specific areas within a screen scrollable, and more. You’ll even add animations to your designs using smart animate, gain experience with advanced prototyping functionality, and create flexible design systems with components, styles, variables, and more.
Held live online (or in-person in New York), Noble Desktop’s UX boot camp covers design concepts, industry tools like Figma, and research methodologies. With the help of expert instructors, you’ll learn to design digital products (like websites and apps) and build clickable prototypes that you can show to users for testing, clients for review, and developers who will turn your design into the final working product.
Small class sizes help to foster a more intentional learning environment, and extra benefits like one-on-one mentoring and a free retake add extra value to the cost of this course. You’ll get a certificate upon completion that you can display on your LinkedIn or add to your resume or portfolio.
Noble Desktop also offers this intensive certificate program that covers both UX and UI design. Students will gain the skills needed to become a UX/UI Designer through training in design concepts, industry-standard tools like Figma, and research methodologies. This program teaches you to design user-friendly products while preparing you for a career with hands-on projects and one-on-one mentoring. You’ll design prototypes and digital products, conduct user research and testing, and use these insights to iterate and refine your designs for a seamless user experience. Upon completion, you’ll be presented with a certificate that you can present to future employers to prove your competency.
If you’re looking to offer in-person or online training to your office or team, Noble Desktop can help. They offer a variety of corporate training programs, including in UX design. You can order vouchers in bulk at a discount, choose which courses are available to employees, and even let your employees choose their own schedule. Plus, you can choose to have your training hosted at a location of your choosing, live online, or at Noble Desktop’s Manhattan office.
With a top-notch customizable curriculum and instructors who are experts in their industries, Noble Desktop’s corporate training is designed to cater to your business or organization’s needs. For more information or to schedule a free consultation, you can reach out to Noble Desktop at corporate@nobledesktop.com.