Continuing & Professional Education

UX / UI Design

Earn a Certificate

Courses for everyone 11

Accord­ing to the Infor­ma­tion and Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Tech­nol­o­gy Coun­cil of Cana­da (ICTC), UX/UI design­er is the third most in-demand dig­i­tal job in Alberta

A Dig­i­tal Future for Alberta

User Expe­ri­ence (UX) Design and User Inter­face (UI) Design are the two sides of user-cen­tred design, an emer­gent field that has seen rapid growth over the past few years. UX explores what it means to be user-cen­tred, while UI oth­er exam­ines how users inter­act with­in a space. Both require skills in design think­ing, research, and work­ing with diverse teams and stakeholders.

The ful­ly online UX/UI Design Cer­tifi­cate teach­es par­tic­i­pants the foun­da­tions of both UX and UI design, how to approach prob­lems from a user-cen­tred per­spec­tive, and how to con­duct user research to best guide the design process. A spe­cial cap­stone project inte­grates pre­vi­ous learn­ing, applies the­o­ry and method, and stretch­es the learn­ers’ gen­er­a­tive and cre­ative abilities.

Audi­ence

Aimed at learn­ers look­ing to get into the design fields of User Expe­ri­ence (UX) and User Inter­face (UI), upskill, or devel­op new skills, this pro­gram will be par­tic­u­lar­ly rel­e­vant to those who are graph­ic design­ers, dig­i­tal mar­keters, com­put­er pro­gram­mers, busi­ness and agency own­ers, entre­pre­neurs, and tech­nol­o­gy star­tups, as well as man­agers and team leads who work with designers.

Whether you are new to the field or have an exist­ing back­ground in design, you will ben­e­fit from learn­ing direct­ly from indus­try lead­ers about cur­rent approach­es and tools, as well as keep­ing up-to-date with the most recent trends.

UX Design - User Expe­ri­ence Design

Every day we engage in a myr­i­ad of inter­ac­tions — both in the phys­i­cal and the dig­i­tal world. Some of these inter­ac­tions are amaz­ing, while oth­ers bring high lev­els of frus­tra­tion. The best inter­ac­tions occur when the exchange feels per­son­al­ized and intu­itive. What makes them so suc­cess­ful is the use of thought­ful and skilled user-cen­tred design thinking. 

  • UX design is all about the over­all feel of the experience.
  • UX design is all about iden­ti­fy­ing and solv­ing user problems.
  • UX deals with pur­pose and functionality.
UI Design — User Inter­face Design

A great UI design­er has the skills and knowl­edge to cre­ate designs that are true to brand while seam­less­ly blend­ing inter­ac­tiv­i­ty and ease of nav­i­ga­tion. Users are increas­ing­ly learn­ing to expect flaw­less, high-qual­i­ty expe­ri­ences, and it is the cal­i­bre of the UI design that can make or break this impact. 

  • UI design is all about how an inter­face looks and func­tions, about the qual­i­ty of the inter­ac­tion that the end-user has with the product.
  • UI design is all about cre­at­ing intu­itive, aes­thet­i­cal­ly-pleas­ing, and inter­ac­tive interfaces.
  • UI design has an artis­tic com­po­nent as it relates to the design and inter­face with the product.
  • UI con­sid­ers acces­si­bil­i­ty and the dif­fer­ent kinds of users who might inter­act with an expe­ri­ence, from kids to seniors to peo­ple with all kinds of dif­fer­ent abilities.
Look­ing for more infor­ma­tion about the UX/UI field and career path? See our FAQ »



                                                                                                                                       
Earn a Certificate
in UX / UI Design
Apply Now
  • University of Alberta parchment in as little as 1 year
  • Pay as you go
  • Currently open for enrolment

Complete all five core courses:

Choose four electives:

Only interested in taking a course? You can register for a course without applying and enrolling in the program – browse our UX / UI Design courses. If later you decide to apply for the full program, the course you’ve taken will be applied toward your Certificate as long as it is still part of the program plan at the time of your application. Please note, program requirements are subject to change over time.

Course planner schedule-at-a-glance

1. Download the Application for Program Admission form.

2. Submit your completed application, along with a $100 admission fee.

This part-time program is comprised of five core courses and four electives. All courses are 21 hours in length, for a total of 189 hours. Courses are delivered through asynchronous online learning. The program may be completed in 1 to 2 years of part-time study.

UX Design Foundations and UI Design Foundations must be taken as the first courses in the program. User Experience / User Interface Capstone Project is the final core course.

Your program requirements

Once you are admitted, you can verify your program requirements by logging into the University of Alberta’s student portal, Bear Tracks, to view your Academic Advisement.

Apply for Your Credential

To qualify for program completion you are required to submit a request to obtain your credential. For a breakdown of details and how to qualify, visit the program completion page.

  • An appli­ca­tion fee of $100 is required for admis­sion into the program.
  • Tuition is paid on a course-by-course basis as you reg­is­ter for your classes.
  • Some cours­es require a text­book at an addi­tion­al cost.
  • Eli­gi­ble for the Cana­da-Alber­ta Job Grant.
Bursaries and funding opportunities
Funding source
Eligibility
Amount
Apply by
Canada-Alberta Job Grant 

Available for businesses in all sectors across Alberta

 Two-thirds of the training costs (up to 100% if hiring an unemployed Albertan)
any time
Canada Training Benefit 

Residents of Canada, 25-65 years old, who have $10,000-150,000 in earnings for work.

 $250+
income tax return
Skilled Immigrant Micro-Loan 

Whether you intend to work in the same field you trained in outside of Canada, or you wish to apply your transferable skills to a new career, this low-interest loan helps you cover the cost of education and related living expenses.

 Up to $15,000 loan
N/A
HRDF 

Employed by the University of Alberta as Non-Academic Staff (NASA)

 $750 annually
Dec / Mar / Jun / Sep

Ready to start this program?

  • Questions: techprog@ualberta.ca
  • 780-492-7237
  • Course planner schedule-at-a-glance

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