Published by: Elizabeth Akpan
User Interface (UI) design is one of the focus disciplines of product design. The user interface of a product is the interactive element of the product and a UI designer is responsible for designing the overall look and feel a product.
In this article, we will be sharing free online courses that can teach you the elements of UI design. So, if you are an absolute beginner or an expert looking to brush up your UI design skills, you will find these courses very useful.
This is an engaging course by leading faculties at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) that introduces you to the history of graphic design. The course describes the people that have influenced graphic design over time and the role of design in the different eras.
“Why do I need to take a course on graphic design history?” you may ask. Although the mediums for communicating design ideas have evolved over time, there are elements of graphic design that are very much present in UI design today.
For beginners especially, it is important to understand how graphic design has evolved over time and how this has birthed new ideas and diverse practices. It is a free course that comes with an optional certification at a small fee. a paid certification for the course.
This is a 5-part course covering fundamental UI design topics. Over the course of 5 weeks, you will receive a chapter each week in your email. The course covers design process mastery, hierarchy, designing user behaviours, information architecture, responsive design, navigation and control design, conversion, onboarding, and visual style.
It is a course designed by InVision and it is absolutely free!
As part of Coursera’s User Interface Design Specialization, this course introduces you to the importance of UI design, best-practices for UI design and theories and concepts in UI design. The course also uses case studies to analyse what makes a design either good or bad.
You can Audit the course to take it for free. There is also a paid certification for the course.
The significant role of colours in UI design is undeniable. This free e-book by UXPin uses a practical approach to explain principles of the colour theory. It employs the use of great examples to drive home 24 practical advice.
The writing style is pretty straightforward and discusses the colour theories in the context of modern web design.
Typography plays an undeniable role in UI design. Type can be used to draw attention to a certain piece of information or define the visual hierarchy of information in a design. This course introduces you to the basics of typography, its history and the characteristics of typography.
You can Audit the course to take it for free. There is also a paid certification for the course.
This is a bonus resource to help with practising the skills learnt from the courses listed above. It is a 100-day challenge. Each day, you receive a UI challenge to design an interface and hone your skills.
To get better at designing user interfaces and get a job as a junior UI designer, you will need a good amount of practice and some projects on your portfolio. This challenge is a good place to start building both your skills and your portfolio.
Muzli is a Medium publication that brings you expertly curated weekly design inspiration. Muzli also has a new-tab Chrome extension that instantly delivers relevant design stories and inspiration. It’s the perfect place to observe the latest trends in UI design and get inspiration for your next project.
Do you know of any other great free courses teaching UI design or elements of UI design? Feel free to share in the comment section.
