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UC San Diego · on Coursera

Interaction Design Specialization

4.7(15,000) on Coursera·200K enrolled
Intermediate 240 hours English Specialization
SkillsInteraction designUX researchPrototypingUsability testingHuman-computer interactionDesign principles

Is this course right for you?

Our take
A deep, university-level grounding in interaction design and HCI, well beyond tool tutorials. It is free to audit, though at around 240 hours it is a big commitment.

Good for: learners who want a thorough, university-level grounding in UX and interaction design.

Skip if: you want a fast, job-focused certificate, or only software tutorials.

Scott Klemmer's eight courses cover design principles, human cognition and mental models, user research, low- and high-fidelity prototyping, heuristic evaluation and usability testing, taught by researchers who publish in top HCI venues, and you build a portfolio of designed and tested projects.

What it does not do is offer a fast, job-focused certificate or just software tutorials — it is thorough and academic — so if you want a quick route, or only Figma tutorials, look elsewhere instead. The certificate needs a subscription; the free audit covers the learning, and the HCI fundamentals stay relevant.

Comparison · LBS

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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.

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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.

Frequently asked questions

Only lightly, and that is deliberate. The specialization focuses on interaction-design methods — rapid prototyping techniques (including paper and 'Wizard of Oz' prototypes), fieldwork, and evaluation — rather than training you in one specific software. You will do prototyping, but the emphasis is on the thinking and process that apply in any tool, so you may want to add dedicated Figma practice separately for job-ready tool fluency.

A broad, university-level treatment across eight courses: design thinking and needfinding, rapidly prototyping and evaluating multiple interface alternatives, conducting fieldwork to uncover design ideas, principles of visual design, and running and analysing experiments. Taught by Scott Klemmer, it goes deep on the research and evaluation side of UX, ending in a capstone, so you finish with a genuine grasp of the full design process.

They trade off theory versus brand. This UC San Diego specialization is more academic and comprehensive, with deeper coverage of research methods, experiments, and design theory. Google's is more structured, beginner-friendly, and carries stronger name recognition at the resume-screening stage. Choose UCSD for genuine depth and rigour; choose Google for a supported, brand-backed entry — some people do one then the other.

It is substantial — eight courses at an estimated ten to twelve hours a week, so realistically several months. Learners commonly report around five months at a steady pace, faster only with a heavy weekly time investment. Because it is research- and project-heavy rather than a quick tour, the time genuinely goes into doing the fieldwork, prototypes, and analysis properly.

Yes, you can audit the courses on Coursera and watch the lectures at no cost. The graded assignments, peer-reviewed projects, and the certificate need a subscription, with financial aid available. Since much of the value is in completing the design projects and getting peer feedback, auditing gives you the teaching but misses the applied practice that turns the theory into real skill.
Paid
Subscription-based, free to audit
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