Interaction Design for Usability
How This Course Will Help Your Career
What You’ll Learn
- An understanding of the basics of usability, including visual design, navigation and menu design, search engine optimization, and accessibility
- How to design for efficiency and persuasion
- What lean and agile processes are
- How to integrate user-centered design into lean and agile development
- How to make a case for user-centered design
- How to engage the whole team in user-centered design
This course will teach you fundamental usability concepts and methods and will tie them together with interaction and visual design. By completing the course, you will become equipped with the tools required to create products with outstanding user experience and usability. Your newly acquired knowledge will also enable you to reduce the costs, risk, and time required to design and implement such products.
You’ll learn to adopt a user-centered approach to UX design and usability so you can create user-friendly products that people love to use—for example, by allowing for user errors and providing timely feedback messages. More importantly, it is crucial that your entire team—developers, project managers, and product owners alike—adopt this holistic, user-centered mindset. This course therefore aims to provide any team member with just that: it will not only equip you with fundamental usability and design concepts, but also introduce you to lean and agile processes that will allow your whole team to become design-centric.
You should take this course if you belong to a team whose goal is to create a great product—whatever role you play in that. The fact of the matter is that usability experts and UX designers are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the people who influence the design of a product. A sound understanding of user-centered design processes is thus greatly beneficial whether you’re a UX designer, developer, or a newcomer to design who wants to be part of a product team one day.
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Is This Course Right for You?
This is a beginner-level course recommended for anyone involved in building interactive systems:
- UX, UI, and web designers keen on building interactive systems with users in mind
- Project managers interested in keeping their products focused on the user
- Software engineers looking to build upon their understanding of how apps, systems and websites can be built with the user in mind
- Entrepreneurs who want to ensure their entire outlook and team remain focused on user-centered design
- Marketers interested in incorporating a user-centered perspective across all touch-points
- Newcomers to design who are considering making a switch to UX, UI, or web design
Courses in the Interaction Design Foundation are designed to contain comprehensive, evidence-based content, while ensuring that the learning curve is never too steep. All participants will have the opportunity to share ideas, seek help with tests, and enjoy the social aspects afforded by our open and friendly forum.
Learn and Work with a Global Team of Designers
You’ll join a global community and work together to improve your skills and career opportunities. Connect with helpful peers and make friends with like-minded individuals as you push deeper into the exciting and booming industry of design.
This course is taught by William Hudson, a leading expert in user-centered design who consults and teaches internationally. The lessons have a practical focus but also incorporate background and theory to help you understand the more complex issues involved. On top of this, you will be able to enhance your learning through the (optional) related reading—this consisting of over 40 titles across a broad array of subjects.
Lessons in This Course
- Each week, one lesson becomes available.
- There’s no time limit to finish a course. Lessons have no deadlines.
- Estimated learning time: 65 hours 16 mins spread over 16 weeks.
Lesson 0: Welcome and Introduction
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0.1: An introduction to courses from the Interaction Design Foundation (37 mins)
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0.2: Let our community help you (1 min)
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0.3: How to Earn Your Course Certificate (16 mins)
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0.4: Meet your peers online in our discussion forums (5 mins)
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0.5: Meet and learn from design professionals at an upcoming meet-up (1 min)
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0.6: Gain Timeless Knowledge Through Courses From the Interaction Design Foundation (21 mins)
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0.7: Mandatory vs. Optional Lesson Items (7 mins)
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0.8: A Mix Between Video-Based and Text-Based Lesson Content (8 mins)
Lesson 1: User-Centered Design Boot Camp
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1.1: Introduction (1 hour 31 mins)
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1.2: Mind the Empathy Gap (1 hour 35 mins)
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1.3: The Art/Science of Programming (29 mins)
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1.4: Human Centered Design (25 mins)
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1.5: Discussion Forum (8 mins)
Lesson 2: Visual Design for Usability
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2.1: Visual Design Versus Usability (51 mins)
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2.2: Principles of Visual Perception (35 mins)
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2.3: Layout and Grids (42 mins)
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2.4: Colour, Fonts & Images (1 hour 32 mins)
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2.5: Form Design (58 mins)
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2.6: Discussion Forum (7 mins)
Lesson 3: Navigation & Menu Design
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3.1: Designing for Users' Goals (1 hour 23 mins)
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3.2: The Scent of Information (1 hour 31 mins)
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3.3: Mega Menus & Faceted Search (42 mins)
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3.4: Menu Design for Mobile Devices (28 mins)
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3.5: Discussion Forum (9 mins)
Lesson 4: Designing for SEO & Accessibility
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4.1: Basics of SEO and Accessibility (1 hour 2 mins)
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4.2: Good Page Structure and Markup (1 hour 5 mins)
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4.3: SEO and Accessibility Tools (29 mins)
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4.4: Legal Aspects of Accessibility (28 mins)
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4.5: Completing the Accessibility Puzzle (29 mins)
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4.6: Discussion Forum (9 mins)
Lesson 5: Human Error, Messages & Feedback
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5.1: Human Error (2 hours 8 mins)
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5.2: Planning for Errors (30 mins)
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5.3: Feedback and Flow (33 mins)
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5.4: Attracting Attention (18 mins)
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5.5: Error Messages (1 hour 8 mins)
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5.6: Discussion Forum (8 mins)
Lesson 6: Usability Evaluation
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6.1: Introduction (1 hour 10 mins)
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6.2: Expert/Heuristic Evaluation & Benchmarking (42 mins)
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6.3: Paper Prototyping (12 mins)
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6.4: Usability Testing (47 mins)
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6.5: Eye Tracking (48 mins)
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6.6: A/B & Multivariate Testing (17 mins)
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6.7: Discussion Forum (9 mins)
Lesson 7: User-Centred IA With Card Sorting
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7.1: Basics of Card Sorting (1 hour 22 mins)
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7.2: Terminology (1 hour 16 mins)
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7.3: Cluster Analysis (46 mins)
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7.4: Other Analysis (32 mins)
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7.5: Avoiding Common Pitfalls (21 mins)
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7.6: Discussion Forum (8 mins)
Lesson 8: Dynamic Web Pages: Effective Use of Ajax
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8.1: Basic Principles of Ajax (1 hour 42 mins)
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8.2: Perceptual Issues (46 mins)
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8.3: Ajax Guidelines (58 mins)
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8.4: SEO & Accessibility (27 mins)
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8.5: A Worked Example (35 mins)
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8.6: Discussion Forum (9 mins)
Lesson 9: Writing Effective Web & Intranet Content
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9.1: What Users Want (49 mins)
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9.2: Inverted Pyramid & Visual Structure (16 mins)
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9.3: Readability Versus Legibility (21 mins)
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9.4: Readability Metrics (1 hour 22 mins)
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9.5: Discussion Forum (8 mins)
Lesson 10: Designing for Efficiency
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10.1: Ease of Learning Versus Efficiency of Use (56 mins)
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10.2: Keystroke-Level Model (38 mins)
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10.3: Fitts' Law (17 mins)
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10.4: The Art of Efficient Shortcuts (31 mins)
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10.5: Micro-Usability (28 mins)
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10.6: Discussion Forum (9 mins)
Lesson 11: Persuasion, Trust and Seduction
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11.1: Psychology of Persuasion (1 hour 24 mins)
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11.2: Perceptions of Trust (35 mins)
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11.3: Comparative Web Credibility (47 mins)
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11.4: User Goals & Emotional Journeys (18 mins)
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11.5: Seductive Design & The Halo Effect (48 mins)
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11.6: Discussion Forum (8 mins)
Lesson 12: Making the Case for UCD in Agile
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12.1: 'Optional' User Experience (1 hour 8 mins)
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12.2: Understanding Your Audience (1 hour 10 mins)
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12.3: Making the Most of Metrics (55 mins)
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12.4: Building a Persuasive Case (1 hour 1 min)
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12.5: Discussion Forum (8 mins)
Lesson 13: Integrating UX/UCD & Agile
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13.1: Origins of Agile (44 mins)
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13.2: Tension Between Agile & UCD (1 hour 6 mins)
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13.3: Empathetic Design (23 mins)
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13.4: Parallel Streams Approach (1 hour 2 mins)
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13.5: Focusing on Users (51 mins)
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13.6: Design Maps as a Collaboration Tool (16 mins)
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13.7: Discussion Forum (10 mins)
Lesson 14: Agile UX: Users, Personas & Design Maps
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14.1: Psychology of Personas (1 hour 59 mins)
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14.2: User Research (43 mins)
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14.3: Roles and Personas (1 hour 8 mins)
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14.4: Feature & Dependency Matrices (34 mins)
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14.5: Design Maps (23 mins)
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14.6: Discussion Forum (8 mins)
Lesson 15: Agile UX: Use Cases, Stories & Scenarios
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15.1: Brief Introduction to Requirements (1 hour 0 mins)
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15.2: Use Cases & Use Case Diagrams (1 hour 4 mins)
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15.3: Scenarios & Story-Telling (31 mins)
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15.4: Sketches, Storyboards & Wireframes (29 mins)
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15.5: Discussion Forum (10 mins)
Lesson 16: Agile UX: Conceptual Models
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16.1: Conceptual Models & Their Benefits (34 mins)
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16.2: User Versus Domain Models (1 hour 13 mins)
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16.3: Appropriate Levels of Detail (32 mins)
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16.4: Conceptual Models & Design Maps (25 mins)
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16.5: Discussion Forum (10 mins)
Lesson 17: Course Certificate, Final Networking, and Course Wrap-up
Learning Paths
This course is part of 4 learning paths:
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Interaction Designer Learning PathBecome a Interaction Designer through 13 courses in 4 parts
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Usability Expert Learning PathBecome a Usability Expert through 9 courses in 4 parts
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UI Designer Learning PathBecome a UI Designer through 11 courses in 4 parts
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Front-End Developer Learning PathBecome a Front-End Developer through 9 courses in 4 parts
How It Works
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Control your learning.
Lessons are self-paced so you’ll never be late for class or miss a deadline. Learning and life, hand in hand.
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Earn Course Certificates.
Your answers are graded by experts, not machines. Get an industry-recognized Course Certificate to show you’ve put in the work.
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Advance your career.
Grow your professional knowledge by watching Master Classes, networking within our UX community, and more.
Start Advancing Your Career Now
Join us to take “Interaction Design for Usability”. Take other courses at no additional cost. Make a concrete step forward in your career path today.
Advance my career nowFrequently Asked Questions
When I finish a course, do I have to pay extra to get my certificate?
Can I take more than one course at a time?
With a Student membership, you can take a maximum of two courses at the same time. You can still take as many courses as you would like – free of extra charges – just as long as you finish or drop them so that you don’t have more than two ongoing courses.
I missed the enrollment, and now the course is closed. What can I do?
Don't worry if you missed the course. We will re-run it shortly. One of the reasons we continually open and close courses is in order to control the classroom size.
Networking is a large part of our value proposition, so we want just the right number of people inside the courses. That is also why we display the "XX % percent booked" on our course icons.
Do I have to be online at an exact time to study?
No. You can set your own study schedule. There are no "live sessions" since we have members from all timezones around the world. We are a truly global community.
Thus, once you are enrolled, you can take all the time to complete a given course. Every "classroom" in each course will never close, so you’ll have permanent access to your classmates and your course material (as well as your own answers).
Will I receive a Course Certificate?
Yes. You will get a digital industry-recognized course certificate every time you complete a course. Certificates never expire and can be saved as a .jpg file, so it's easy to be shared. Also, there is no limit to how many certificates you can earn during your membership.
You can see an example of a Course Certificate at the bottom of the Course Catalogue.
I have answered questions in a lesson; when will they be marked/graded?
I have updated my name, but my course certificate is not updated — how can I change it?
Don't worry; once you change your name, your certificate will be updated automatically in the next 48 hours.
I have started my course later than the specified date, are my answers still going to be marked?
Sure! We will be marking all your answers for as long as you are an active member.
How are courses graded?
For how long will I have access to the course materials?
You will have access to the course materials for the entire duration of your membership. So, if you pay for a one-year membership, you will have access for one year. Renewing your membership for a second year means you will have access to one more year, and so on.
New lessons are starting before I have completed the previous lesson(s). Am I going to be locked out of these unfinished lessons?
No, you will not be locked out of any lesson or course. You will have access to all course materials throughout your membership, so there is no pressure to keep at the same pace as the specified lesson release dates.
All we recommend is that you try to stick to the same schedule as other participants. The reason is they may have moved on to other lessons, thereby meaning you could miss out on the social aspects of the course(s).
Do I have a specific date to award my certificates?
No, you can generate your certificate as soon as you score at least 70% of the total course points.
When will I receive my Course Certificate?
Course certificates will be given to participants when they have scored more than 70% or more of the total course points. For example, if a course contains ten lessons each with ten questions, you will receive a course certificate when the instructor has awarded you at least 70 points (70% of the total course points).
There is no specified time that certificates will be awarded — instead, they are given to participants as and when they have answered all questions, even if this is long after the official end date.
How do I add my Certificate to my LinkedIn profile?
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to add your Interaction Design Foundation course(s) to your LinkedIn profile:
Log in to your LinkedIn account, then go to your profile.
Below your profile description, click on the button Add profile section, choose Recommended and then select Add license or certification.
3. In the following fields add:
Name – Course name
Issuing organization – The Interaction Design Foundation
Check the field “This credential does not expire”
Issue date - Input the date written on your certificate (e.g., May 2021)
Credential ID – Your membership ID number (it's written on your certificate)
Credential URL: Input the certificate URL provided on your course page
4. Click the Save button.
Congratulate yourself! Earning the certificate is a great accomplishment and now you can share it with the world!
How do I add the Interaction Design Foundation Membership Certificate to my LinkedIn Profile?
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to add your Interaction Design Foundation course(s) to your LinkedIn profile:
Log in to your LinkedIn account, then go to your profile.
Below your profile description, click on the button Add profile section, choose Recommended and then select Add license or certification.
3. In the following fields add:
Name – Membership Certificate
Issuing organization – The Interaction Design Foundation
Check the field “This credential does not expire”
Issue date - Input the date when you joined our community (e.g., May 2019)
Credential ID – Your membership ID number (it's written on your certificate)
Credential URL: Input the certificate URL provided on your profile page
4. Click the Save button.
It is as simple as that. Now, anyone who visits your profile can see your certificate!
How much will I have to pay for the courses?
After you pay for your membership, you can take as many courses as you want with no additional costs. There are no further charges on top of the membership fee.
Do you provide mostly beginners' or more advanced courses?
How long does it take to complete a course?
You will need approximately 5-8 hours to complete one lesson. Each course has between 3 and 16 lessons.
Once enrolled in a course, you will gain access to a new lesson each week, which you are free to complete without any deadlines and no end date, either.
I scored less than 70% in a course, so I didn't qualify for a certificate. Can I try again?
Yes! Everyone's learning journey looks different, and we'd never stop our members from trying again. To retake a course, just follow these steps:
1. Go to your profile and click on the relevant course you'd like to retake.
2. Underneath your progress bar, you'll see a phrase "UX Courses" with an arrow (>) pointing to a clickable landing page of that course. Click on that link.
3. Once on the landing page, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page. You'll see a red button, which you can simply click to drop the course.
4. Head back to our main list of UX Courses, and re-enroll yourself in the course. You'll all set to try again!
Please note that when you drop a course, you will lose any answers and progress you submitted. We advise that you screenshot or save any answers you'd like to reuse.
In some cases, we can open up lessons for members who are retaking a course, so that they don't have to wait for familiar lessons to unlock each week. If you'd like us to do this for you, please get in touch with our support team at hello@interaction-design.org, and we can help you out.