User Experience and Web Design
Intuitive design
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certificate Description
Stay tuned for our upcoming program revision.
Thank you for your interest in the User Experience and Web Design certificate program. You are invited to enroll in any open course and pick up the practical skills you need. Please note, however, that we are no longer accepting new candidates for this program due to its pending revision on Jan. 1, 2025. Students currently working towards the certificate are encouraged to complete all the requirements by Dec. 31, 2024.
Designing for your users
The UCSC Silicon Valley Extension User Experience and Web Design certificate program teaches you to anticipate user needs and design the look and feel of new products that are intuitive and easy to use. Learn customer analytics and behavior by working with a design team of peers. Explore different areas of focus to integrate your creativity with the most effective, best practices in the industry.
Areas of focus
- User experience design
- Visual design
- Design implementation
User Experience and Web Design certificate program objectives
- Understand the iterative and user-centered design process with the spiral model.
- Use the user-centered design strategies and methods to create highly effective, pleasurable, and usable products while meeting business goals and objectives.
- Understand and apply the design principles to create effective user interfaces for mobile devices and products that incorporate wearable technology.
- Be able to implement a design prototype using various prototyping tools.
- Be able to evaluate the user interface through user research and heuristic evaluation.
- Learn and apply the visual design principles to create engaging user interfaces.
- Be able to use HTML/CSS/JavaScript to prototype websites or single page web applications.
Future of Product Development, Virtual Reality & Wearable Technology
Eric Dorf, B.F.A., D.M.B.A., senior UX designer at Google and instructor, discuss designing for new surfaces and experiences—the evolution of the product designer, designing for new surfaces/experiences, how to be aware of new trends, and skill sets and design for integrated experiences. (Oct. 7, 2021)
Program Overview
Estimated Cost: Starting at $5,550. (You pay only for courses you enroll in.) | International Tuition Cost
Program Requirements: 6–7 courses (minimum 17 quarter units). Take 5 core courses (13 quarter units) and 2–3 elective courses (minimum 4 quarter units). End with a certificate of completion review.
Minimum Hours of Instruction: Minimum 170 hours of instruction.
Estimated Duration: A full-time student can complete the certificate in 9–12 months.
Special Programs:
Courses
1. Core Course(s): Part A - All Required
2. Core Course(s): Part B - One Required or Take Both & Other Part B Course Will Count as an Elective)
3. Electives:
4. Capstone Course: Required
5. Completion Review:
Meet Our Instructors
What students are saying
"The class involved whiteboard sessions and collaboration projects which really prepared me well to start working in the industry and tackle UX design interviews."
— Agnieszka Zimolag
International Student
Product Design, Cloud at IonQ
Certificate Inquiry Form
Recommended Course Sequence
Flexible course sequence
- CHOICE
- If you are familiar with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop products, most courses may be taken in any order if you have the prerequisites for each course.
- ELECTIVES
- Note that while you must take all three courses in Core Courses A, you just need one from Core Courses B—Mobile Interface Design or User Experience Design Fundamentals. You are welcome to take the other Core B course as an elective toward your certificate.
- CAPSTONE
- Your final course should be the Capstone User Experience Project.
Substitutions
New students should attend the Information Session to receive course sequence information
To receive your certificate
Requisite Knowledge
Please review the course descriptions to ensure that you have taken necessary prerequisites or meet the requirements through job experience or previous education. Before you begin the program, it’s recommended that you take Adobe Illustrator, Introduction and Adobe Photoshop or have the equivalent knowledge and experience.
Advisory Board
Certificate Program Chair
MIN WU, Ph.D., senior staff software engineer at ServiceNow, has over 15 years of research and practical experience in the areas of human-computer interaction, user interface design, web security, collaboration and privacy, web application and automation, and social networking. Learn more.
Certificate Program Advisory Committee
ARIN BHOWMICK, MA-Human-Computer Interaction
Chief Design Officer
IBM Products
REJ SIDHARTHAN, MA-DES, Interaction
CEO & UX Strategist
Freshdesign
WILLY LAI, BA
Chief Design Officer
Haggleland
Establish Candidacy
Who should establish candidacy?
- People who are pursuing a certificate (and have enrolled in a course in the program).
- People who want to lock in the current requirements of a certificate or specialization.
4 Simple Steps to a Certificate or Specialization
- Complete a course in your selected program.
- Establish candidacy. Click on the Establish Candidacy button on your program page.
- Take all required courses for certificate completion.
- Once your grades are posted on your final course, enroll in the certificate review fee.
A Benefit of Establishing Candidacy
Program requirements may change. Once you commit to a program by establish your candidacy, you will not have to change your plans to meet new requirements. They are locked in for you. Timeline: 4 years to get it done (or 3 for a specialization) You must complete all the necessary units in a certificate within a four-year window. The clock begins on the first day of your first course in the certificate program. For example, if you started a course on Sept. 5, 2023, you would have to finish by Sept. 4, 2027.
Note: Establishing candidacy does not trigger the beginning of the four-year window. It begins the first day of the first course in your chosen certificate program. The Certificate Completion Review process does not have to occur within the four-year timeframe.
Exceptions to the four-year requirement
- If you Established candidacy prior to Jan. 1, 2024, you will have five years to complete a program.
- Students participating in a special program, such as workforce, international, or our curriculum partner programs, such as the Legal Studies courses (CLS by Barbri) and sales and business courses (Ziplines Education) have shorter completion requirements.
Grade Requirements
Please note that only letter grades of C or higher may be applied to a certificate, and in some programs, students may have more stringent requirements. Students in most employer- and government-sponsored payment programs, such as workforce development, as well as international students on F-1 visas, need to maintain a B average to meet their requirements. Personal Financial Planning students have additional grade requirements for individual courses to attain a certificate.
See Grading and Credits Policy for further information.