The Ultimate List of Conversation Design Courses
In early 2019 Polina Cherkashyna of Voice Tech Global released an article pointing those interested in becoming a Voice Interface Designer towards courses offering a primer in the design of VUI’s. As with any rapidly evolving space a lot has changed since then! Some new learning opportunities have emerged while some are no longer available. Read below for our updated list for the best courses to get you well on your way towards becoming a Voice Interface Designer.
To get us started, here are some of the newer entries to the VUI Design Certification Scene:
Where: Digital Assistant Academy (online)
When: On-demand
Cost: $1,997 USD
Length: Self-paced, around 3 months
Level: Beginner to Intermediate
About: The Voice Interaction Design course gives you the essential fundamentals of voice interaction and conversation design. This includes how voice technologies work, conversational design strategy and creation, and a hands-on capstone project opportunity. The course has been designed by industry experts and includes one capstone project.
Advanced Conversational Experience Design Course by Voice Tech Global
Where: Voice Tech Global — live online sessions(online)
When: 5 cohorts per year starting on the first Monday of February, April, June, August, and October
Cost: $1499 CAD, the price will go up to 2000 USD in April 2021.
Length: 6 weeks
Level: Advanced
About: This is the only course designed for practitioners already working in the field or seasoned Product Designers and UX professionals, who are looking to extend their expertise. This course provides hands-on practice with Conversational Design principles for Accessibility, Multimodal Design, Emerging Technologies like VR/AR or GPT-3, Personality Design, and more. Each student will add a unique polished case study to their portfolio and present it to industry leaders.
Conversation Design Institute
Where: Conversation Design Institute — formerly Robocopy(online)
When: On-demand
Cost: $949 USD
Length: Self-Paced (40+ Video Lectures)
Level: Beginner to Intermediate
About: This in-depth course will take you from the basics of understanding the field through to key skills that you’ll need to be a professional conversational designer. You’ll learn how to write natural dialogue for chatbots and voice assistants using the conversational design process, as well as receive ongoing coaching and support, regularly updated course content, an official LinkedIn certificate, and membership to the Robocopy Alumni Network.
Introduction to Voice Interface Design
Where: Udemy (online)
When: On-demand
Cost: CA$54.99 (discounted prices often available)
Length: 3 hours
Level: Beginner
About: Offering an introduction to voice interface design and conversational design for chatbots, voice bots, and smart assistants this course will also offer you a certificate of completion. You’ll learn: How to design for voice interfaces, where to start when creating a chatbot or voice bot, how to design conversations for chatbots, and perhaps most importantly, how to design good user experiences for voice and chatbots.
The Voice Course: Practical Strategy & Design
Where: Udemy (online)
When: On-demand
Cost: $114.99 (discounted prices often available)
Length: 4.5 hours
Level: Beginner
About: Another entry from Udemy, this course covers voice design from a brand perspective. A great place to start If you are looking to add voice to your digital strategy tool kit. You’ll learn everything from the basics of “why voice?” and what you can do with it, and how to design the right voice application for your brand. This course comes with access to advice and feedback from experts in the field, as well as a certificate of completion.
With a few updates in course names, prices and start dates here are the certifications covered in our original article that are still going strong:
Introduction to Voice Design with Amazon’s Alexa
Where: Udemy (online)
When: On-demand
Cost: Free
Length: 6 lectures (41 min of video + reading materials)
Level: Beginner
About: This short course was developed by Amazon. On the one hand, you can expect a certain level of quality and insight coming from the company that built one of the top voice assistants in the world. At the same time, you’ll need to learn about other platforms (e.g. Google Assistant) on your own. In a nutshell, it’s a primer and should help most designers quickly try out the interface and get started.
UX for Voice: Planning and Implementation
Where: LinkedIn Learning (online)
When: On-demand
Cost: Free with LinkedIn Learning Membership ($29.99US/month)
Length: 33m 26s
Level: Beginner
About: This beginner course offers a more technical viewpoint on voice AI. You will learn how machines interpret audio instructions and how understanding, personality, and accuracy affect the quality of the user experience. As with all LinkedIn Learning courses, upon completion, you’ll receive a certificate verifying your newly acquired knowledge.
Designing for Conversation
Where: Amazon.com (online)
When: On-demand
Cost: Free
Length: 1 hour, self-paced
Level: Intermediate
About: This is an interactive guide to designing for voice offered by Amazon. We would suggest this as a second step after you do one of the initial overview courses mentioned above, as this one involves quite a bit of reading and is a bit more in-depth. In parallel with this course, we recommend going through Google’s Conversation Design Guide to help you become familiar with the technical specifics of the platform.
Voice User Interface Design
Where: CareerFoundry (online)
When: Monday, May 11th, 2020 | Monday, May 25th, 2020 | Monday, June 8th, 2020
Cost: $1900US or $600 x 2 + $800 upfront
Length: 120 hours (8 weeks)
Level: Beginner
About: If you’re looking for a more personal touch and an ability to interact with tutors, this mentored online course from CareerFoundry could be a good fit for you. It is the most expensive course on our list, but if you’re looking to jumpstart a new career, this is probably the closest you will find.
Conversational Design (formally called Designing for Voice — Alexa)
Where: My UX Academy (Online & In-person in London, UK)
When: April 23, 2020
Price: £950 + taxes
Length: 6 weeks
Level: Beginner
About: If you’re in London, this course offers face-to-face interaction in a small group. There is nothing better than getting hands-on experience and personalized guidance from working professionals. What’s more important, as part of this course, you will have the opportunity to build your portfolio as well.
Have any tips on other courses that we should include? Tried one of these and want to share? Comment below, we’d love to hear from you!
Not sure if you want to pursue VUI Design but curious to learn more? Check out the Voice Tech Global Resource Library and Upcoming Events page for a ton of fresh and exciting content!
