Professional Certificate

in UI Design
Duration Format Exam
12 weeks Online, self-paced 1-hour exam

Industry Advisory Council University credit rated by:

1 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

Welcome
UI (User Interface) design is concerned with enhancing
the visual appearance of websites and apps. It brings
the personality of a product to life. And if you’re involved
in digital product design and development, you’ll
know how valuable UI design skills have become.

It’s why we’ve created the Professional Certificate in

UI Design. To give people like you the principles and
techniques to become confident UI designers.

By mastering key aspects of UI design craft, and knowing

the principles behind them, you’ll gain the right foundation
for a job that’s both valuable and creatively rewarding.

Colman Walsh
CEO
UX Design Institute

2 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

About us
The UX Design Institute is setting the standard in product
design education across the globe. We have trained
thousands of digital professionals and helped them pursue
successful careers in UX and UI design.

University-backed education
We’ve partnered with Glasgow Caledonian University to credit
rate the Professional Diploma in UX Design. This means the
course meets the highest possible educational standards.
These standards are part of the European Qualifications
Framework, a globally recognised mark of quality.

Got questions?

Speak with an Education Advisor

3 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

Who is this programme for?
Graphic and digital designers who want to upskill
to UI design

UI designers who want to strengthen their

knowledge and craft

UX professionals who want to become more

rounded product designers

Anyone looking for a job in tech who is visually

minded with an eye for detail

What will you get from

the programme?
The skills needed to design beautiful, pixel-
perfect interfaces

An understanding of the ‘why’ of good UI design

and the principles behind it

A university credit-rated qualification that’s

valued by employers globally

4 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

 Our students love learning with us

97% 4.9
Google (663 reviews)
4.
Sw
Customer
4.9
Satisfaction
4.8 4.8
Score
Google (663 reviews) SwitchUp (149 reviews) Cour

4.8 4.8
) SwitchUp (149 reviews) Course Report (28 reviews)

“It’s a fantastic and comprehensive course, which provided me

with the knowledge and skills to hit the ground running as a
Product Designer.”
Daniel Kleimberg
Product Designer
Zopa

“The course provided a solid foundation to kickstart my career

in product design. I was confident that I had the knowledge and
expertise to step into a creative design role.”

Julian Pugsley
Product Designer
CogX

5 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

Programme overview

10 modules covering the

best UI practices

Follow a 3-month structure or set

your own pace within 6 months

Ongoing support from our

Student Success Team

Short exercises for

hands-on practice

A final assignment to test

your new-found skills

Regular group sessions for

assignment feedback and advice

UX Insider live events connect

you with world-class experts

6 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

Programme syllabus
1 Introduction to UI design
2 Brands and personality
3 Layout
4 Design principles
5 Interactivity
6 Typography
7 Colour, shapes and effects
8 Iconography and imagery
9 Design process
10 Presenting designs

7 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

Module 1
Introduction to UI design
In your first module, you’ll gain an understanding of the
fundamentals of UI elements and design systems. You’ll learn
why good UI matters and understand the role of UI design in
the UX process. You’ll also recognise the effects of poor UI and
begin learning how to avoid it in your designs.

Lessons include
• Why good UI matters • Design systems
• The role of the UI designer • Effects of bad UI
• UI elements fundamentals

Module 2
Brand and personality
Understanding how to infuse a brand’s personality into a design
is a core skill for a UI professional. In this module, you’ll learn
how to bring a brand to life through typography, colour, layout
and more. You’ll discover the impact of simplicity in UI design
and how it affects the user experience.

Lessons include
• Interpreting brands and personalities
• Infusing brand values into a UI
• Inspiration and mood boards

8 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

Module 3
Layout
In this module, you’ll become familiar with the fundamentals of
layout. You’ll learn techniques that bring balance and order to
an interface and, in turn, improve the user experience. Finally,
you’ll understand how to design responsively.

Lessons include
• Layout • 8 point grid system and
• Visual hierarchy design systems

• Margins, gutters • Alignment in UI

and padding • Responsive design

Module 4
Design principles
This module will bring you through the core principles of
design. You’ll learn how these principles impact the user’s
psychology, and you’ll recognise their role in creating
effective, successful products.

Lessons include
• Proximity • Continuation
• Grouping or chunking • Closure
• Similarity • Affordance
• Symmetry • Visual hierarchy
and proportion

9 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

Module 5
Interactivity
This module focuses on understanding the interactive nature of
digital products. You’ll recognise the different components and
states used in interfaces and what they mean to the user. You’ll
learn how to incorporate these elements into your designs to
create easy-to-use, intuitive UIs.

Lessons include
• Design patterns • Input controls
• Thumb reachability • Informational components
• Forms • iOS and Android
GUI patterns

Module 6
Typography
Typography is a core feature of any design, from navigation and
headings to labels and hyperlinks. In this module, you’ll learn
to master this timeless skill. You’ll discover how best to apply
typography in all aspects of design and visual communication.

Lessons include
• The power of typography • X-height and baseline
• Scanning patterns • Line height and line length
• Hierarchy • Contrast and space
• Font selection • Styling

10 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

Module 7
Colour, shape and effects
This module will guide you through the use of colour, shape and
effects in UI design. You’ll learn the role these elements can
play in aiding communication and usability, expressing brand
personality, directing attention and more.

Lessons include
• The power of white and grey • Shape in UI design
• Accessibility • Colour models
• Primary, secondary and • Creating a colour palette
accent colours • Removing visual noise

Module 8
Iconography and imagery
Iconography, illustration and imagery are the visual language of
UI design. In this module, you’ll learn how to use these elements
to communicate with users, bring brand values to life and
enhance your designs.

Lessons include
• Using icons • Using images
• Designing and • Image treatments
personalising icons

11 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

Module 9
Design process
In this module, you’ll learn how to approach a new UI
design project. You’ll recognise the importance of excellent
communication in achieving an efficient workflow. You’ll learn
how to interpret wireframes and become familiar with each step
of the design process.

Lessons include
• Interpreting wireframes • Presenting information
• Starting your design visually

• Ideating and design • Animating a user interface

iterations

Module 10
Presenting designs
In your final module, you’ll learn how to present your designs.
You’ll recognise the importance of supporting your design
choices with a solid rationale and evidence of user testing.
And, you’ll learn how to improve the handover process.

Lessons include
• Presenting designs • Critique and feedback
• Considering the audience • Preparing for handover

12 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

How you will learn

High-definition video lectures

Downloadable course material

Guided, step-by-step coursework

Group feedback sessions

Webinars with industry experts

13 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

How you will be assessed
Assignment
• 1 final assignment - 6 short exercises
• Design a responsive website, desktop and mobile app
• Continuous support from course mentors

The assignment accounts for

40% of your overall assessment.

The exam makes up the

remaining 60%.

Exam
• 1 online exam, lasting 60 minutes
• Once course is completed, the exam can be
taken whenever you like
• Monitored and observed by an external
examination company

14 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

How you will be supported
Our warm, welcoming community will support you at every step:
• Dedicated and responsive Student Success Team
• Constructive feedback from world-class mentors
• Personalised career support from our career coaches
• Access to our active student Slack community

Kelly, Cathal, Ellen and Emily

95% of students say that the Student Success

Team are helpful

“After having such an amazing experience with UX Design

Institute on the UX course, I started the UI Design course.
Personal challenges made it difficult to finish it as expected,
but the lovely people from UX Design Institute were very
accommodating, helpful, understanding and I cannot thank
them enough for their support!”
Andreea Dumitrascu
UX/UI Designer
Smartpatient

15 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

How we will connect
you to the industry
Start building your professional network right away in
our friendly, supportive community of UI professionals
and students.

Course mentors are on hand to give you

expert advice

Our UX Insider live events teach you about the

industry landscape

Our Professional Certificate is industry

approved and globally recognised

John Doe

Professional Certificate in UI Design

19 March 2025 UXDI-1218-0066

Student ID

This course has been awarded 12 SCQF credits at Level 7.

It has been SCQF credit-rated by Glasgow Caledonian University.

16 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

Industry Advisory Council
The Industry Advisory Council consists of technology industry
employers, design leaders and recruiters from some of the
world’s largest and most influential technology brands.

With regular expert reviews and recommendations, the Council

validates our programmes, maintains their relevance and
ensures consistent content quality.

“At MasterCard, we look for people with the right mix of UX

skills and a problem-solving mindset. My role on the Advisory
Council is to help ensure the UX Design Institute produces
graduates with the qualities that employers find valuable.”

Tansy Murray
CX & Design Vice President and member of the
UX Design Institute’s Industry Advisory Council

17 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

Meet our Careers Team
Our Careers Team is here to help you transition from UI student
to certified UI designer.

With a vast understanding of the UI interview and hiring process,

they offer:

• One-on-one sessions
• Portfolio advice
• Interview guidance

You can schedule a call with them at any time during or after the
course to help you land your dream job.

Eoghain and Rebecca

“It’s a great pleasure to be a part of an institute which provides

world-class professional qualification and support. I would like
to thank Kelly Igoe, Cathal Hayes, Rebecca Bradley for all your
support and guidance!”

Arpita Dutta Chakraborty

UX Designer/UX Researcher
Crawley

18 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

Our graduates get hired by leading,
design-focused companies

19 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

“Having experience is one thing but
having the theory and knowledge to
back it up is a great validation.”
Design is so subjective that it’s really good to be able to outline
the reasons why a particular design has been chosen or why you
support it. You learn an awful lot from working with designers
and developers all the time, but it’s great to have that academic
qualification as well.
Doreen O’ Mahony
Digital Brand Manager
Laya Healthcare

“A brilliant course which

compliments their Professional
Diploma in UX Design!”
The Professional Certificate in UI Design had a lot of rich content
via online videos from Tom Cunningham and great help from
UX Design Institute mentors via Slack. I definitely recommend
it, especially if you’re looking for a course that’s university
accredited in UI Design. Another step further towards a product
design role.

Stevie Taylor
Creative Professional
Apple

20 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design

Ready to enhance your career?

Enrol today →

Not sure?
Meet our Education Advisors
Our dedicated team has helped thousands of people take their
first steps into UI. To get an idea of how UI design can add to
your career, book a call with us today.

Tom, Ken, Fin, Dave and Stuart

In a 20-minute call, you’ll get answers to any questions

you have about our course, your career or UI in general,
with no obligation. We’ll talk about:

• Career goals • Flexibility

• Payment options • Transferable skills for UI

Speak with an Education Advisor

21 ⋅ Professional Certificate in UI Design