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University of Colorado · on Coursera

Software Design as an Element of the Software Development Lifecycle

Intermediate English University CertificateFREE
SkillsSoftware designSoftware development lifecycleRequirementsDesign processSoftware engineering

Is this course right for you?

Our take
A University of Colorado course that treats design as its own distinct, crucial stage of building software — the bridge from requirements to a plan for code.

Good for: Understanding software design's place in the development lifecycle.

Skip if: You want hands-on coding or a specific design-tool tutorial.

It's conceptual and lifecycle-focused: where design sits in software engineering and how it turns what's needed into how it'll be built. That framing suits people who want to understand the shape of the whole process rather than pick up a tool or language, and it's the wrong choice if you came for hands-on coding or a specific design-tool tutorial.

Free to audit on Coursera; a certificate needs a subscription (about $49/month) or Coursera Plus, with financial aid available, and documents the study rather than a qualification. Understanding where design fits is durable knowledge (as of 2026).

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About this course

Software Design as an Element of the Software Development Lifecycle examines design as a distinct, crucial stage of building software. From the University of Colorado, it explains how design translates requirements into specifications developers can build from, the difference between high-level and detailed design (and why high-level design is well-suited to addressing security), and how design plays its role regardless of the development approach.

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Instructor

AG
Albert Glock
Coursera instructor

Taught by Albert Glock for the University of Colorado as part of its Secure Software Design specialization. The focus is on design's role within the lifecycle rather than any single language or tool.

Frequently asked questions

Not primarily. It focuses on software design and its place in the development lifecycle — how to plan and structure software well before and while building it — rather than teaching a programming language. There is some technical content around design principles and modelling, but the emphasis is on design thinking and process. If you want hands-on coding practice, a language course fits better; this is about designing sound software.

Some helps. It is aimed at people with a software background who want to design better systems, so familiarity with programming and how software is built makes the concepts meaningful. Complete non-programmers can follow the ideas at a high level, but the material assumes you understand what you are designing toward, so a little coding grounding genuinely improves what you get from it.

Developers, aspiring software engineers, and technical people wanting to understand design within the software development lifecycle — it is part of a University of Colorado specialization on the subject. It suits those moving beyond just writing code toward thinking about architecture, maintainability, and process, rather than absolute beginners with no programming context.

Yes, you can audit it on Coursera and watch the lectures at no cost. The graded assignments and the certificate require a subscription, with financial aid available if you apply. Since much of the value is understanding the design concepts, auditing gives you the substance if you want the ideas rather than the credential.

As a single course within a specialization, it typically runs a few weeks at a modest weekly pace. It is concept-and-design focused rather than a coding build, so the time goes into absorbing the software-design principles and how they fit the lifecycle, with the wider specialization a longer commitment if you continue.
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