COUC San Diego · on Coursera
Interaction Design Specialization
Intermediate 240 hours English Specialization Certificate Certificate
Editor's Pick
The most academically rigorous UX design curriculum on Coursera — Scott Klemmer's teaching makes HCI theory directly applicable to real design decisions.
About this course
This UC San Diego specialization covers interaction design and HCI from academic and practical perspectives: design principles, human cognition and mental models, user research methods, low and high-fidelity prototyping, heuristic evaluation, and usability testing.
The eight-course specialization is the most comprehensive HCI curriculum available on a MOOC platform, taught by researchers who publish in premier HCI venues. Students build a portfolio of designed and tested interface projects.
What you'll learn
Apply design principles including affordances, signifiers, and feedback
Conduct user research with interviews, observation, and contextual inquiry
Create low-fidelity prototypes for rapid iteration and concept validation
Run heuristic evaluations and cognitive walkthroughs of interface designs
Design and conduct usability tests with real users
This course includes
240h
On-demand video
Yes
Certificate
Yes
Mobile access
English
Language
Comparison · LBS
Compare alternatives for Interaction Design Specialization
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COCoursera4.7(15,000)
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Google UX Design Professional Certificate
- Price
- FreeAudit free · Cert $49/mo
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- 180 hrs
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COCoursera4.7(9,200)
Graphic Design Specialization
- Price
- FreeAudit free · Certificate $49/mo
- Duration
- 130 hrs
- Level
- Beginner
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Prices & availability can change — confirm on the provider's site. We're not affiliated with any single provider.
Instructor
SK
Scott Klemmer
Coursera instructor
200K+ learners8 courses4.7 instructor rating
Taught by Scott Klemmer and the UCSD Design Lab faculty, pioneers in HCI education and researchers who developed widely-used UX frameworks.
Requirements
- No design experience required — starts from foundational principles
Who this course is for
- UX designers who want academic rigor behind their design process
- Developers who want to understand UX and HCI principles
- Anyone transitioning into UX design from another discipline
About this provider
CO
Coursera
University-backed online learning platform. 142M learners, 7,000+ courses from 325+ institutions.
Frequently asked questions
UCSD's specialization is more academically rigorous with deeper HCI theory; Google's is more practical and industry-focused. UCSD is better for researchers; Google's is better for job seekers.
Covers both principles and tool-based prototyping — Figma and other prototyping tools are used in project work.