DL122- Certificate Fundamentals of
User Experience Design

This course is currently offered in collaboration with Creative Futures Academy (CFA). CFA is a ground-breaking partnership between: The National College of Art and Design, University College Dublin, and the Institute of Art, Design + Technology. Our tailored programmes and micro courses offer access to expertise and networks across the three leading creative institutions and our industry partners. Learn with us as we experiment, innovate and respond to change.
What is it?
User experience design uses research, design skills and usability testing to enhance the ways in which a user can interact with a digital product. It involves varied activities, including user research, requirements analysis, user interface and interaction design, prototyping, and user testing. The demand from industry in Ireland for people with these skills has grown in response to the increasing prominence and importance of the field. This course produces skilled and knowledgeable user experience designers to fill this gap.
Future careers
A research report from the IADT ISA Software Skillnet (2016) found that employees are often working in UX roles and completing UX related tasks without any ‘real’ training. This course is ideal for such staff, because not only does it provide formal training to validate what they are currently doing, it also teaches new theory and techniques.
This course opens up a range of opportunities across a number of areas, including: digital development and production, design, project management, digital and online marketing, content management and software development.
What topics will I study?
This course:
- outlines the field of user experience design;
- explains the key stages of the UX design lifecycle;
- provides the knowledge, skills and competencies required to design and evaluate solutions to UX design problems.
Topics covered include:
- core UX concepts and theory;
- key UX activities, including user research, prototyping and testing;
- various typical UX methodologies.
Dates + Times
The course will be delivered in a blended format with 12 Wednesday evenings online (7pm – 8:30pm) and 3 Saturdays on campus (10am – 4pm):
• Intro, Research + Empathy
– Wed, 11 Oct 2023 (7pm – 8:30pm | online)
– Wed, 18 Oct 2023 (7pm – 8:30pm | online)
– Wed, 25 Oct 2023 (7pm – 8:30pm | online)
– Sat, 04 Nov 2023 (10am – 4pm | on campus)
– Wed, 08 Nov 2023 (7pm – 8:30pm | online)
• Prototypes, Designs + Testing
– Wed, 15 Nov 2023 (7pm – 8:30pm | online)
– Wed, 22 Nov 2023 (7pm – 8:30pm | online)
– Wed, 29 Nov 2023 (7pm – 8:30pm | online)
– Sat, 09 Dec 2023 (10am – 4pm | on campus)
– Wed, 13 Dec 2023 (7pm – 8:30pm | online)
• Presentation Preparation, Individual Report + Evaluation
– Wed, 10 Jan 2024 (7pm – 8:30pm | online)
– Wed, 17 Jan 2024 (7pm – 8:30pm | online)
– Wed, 24 Jan 2024 (7pm – 8:30pm | online)
– Wed, 31 Jan 2024 (7pm – 8:30pm | online)
– Sat, 10 Feb 2024 (10am – 4pm | on campus)
Fees + Scholarships
Fees for this course are €1,100.
CFA + CCI Skillnet Collaboration:
Creative Futures Academy is delighted to collaborate with Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet to offer a special partnership rate for a range of upcoming courses. This support means we can offer a partnership fee of €750 to successful applicants (employed / freelance / sole traders that are ROI residents) to this course.
Details and application information is available HERE
CFA + Kilkenny Arts Office Bursaries:
Kilkenny Arts Office has joined forces with CFA to offer bursaries this Autumn to Kilkenny based artists seeking to gain new qualifications and skills to expand their practice. The bursaries range from €500 to a maximum of €2,000. Find out more HERE
CFA Scholarship:
A CFA scholarship encourages the participation of learners from sections of society that are significantly under-represented in higher education by offering one free place on all of our CFA short courses.
Find out if you are eligible to apply HERE
Fill in the CFA@IADT scholarship application form HERE