Explore the core principles behind user experience and design

From news and banking to shopping and social media, apps have become an integral part of our lives, but what makes a good one?

On this two-week course from the Institute of Coding, you’ll dive into the world of app design and discover how to create a great user experience for your target audience.

Understanding how to create a great user experience for your audiences is crucial in creating customer satisfaction. This is why learning about UX is a key skill for designers and marketing professionals alike.

You’ll learn how designers go about designing the apps that make your life easier, and how a great user experience makes all the difference.

Understand what influences app design

To learn about the process of app design, you’ll first examine how a smartphone works and how its features influence design. You’ll also understand how the interactive and visual features of a smartphone contribute to a great user experience of an app.

To apply what you have learned, you’ll identify a problem that an app could solve and then go on to design your own clickable prototype app to see your ideas in action.

Learn from industry professionals to create your app

You’ll hear from industry professionals and people getting started in app design about how they go about designing and building apps for their users. You’ll learn directly from the experts about what it takes to make amazing apps.

By the end of this course, you’ll have the skills and knowledge to design and test an app, and the features you need to include for a great user experience.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 7 seconds Rachel Skelton: Nearly everyone now has a mobile phone and uses the latest apps to do all kinds of things that make life easier. But have you ever wondered how designers go about designing the apps that you love? This course will help you find out. Creating a great user experience for mobile apps is one of three courses which introduces you to coding and design. You’ll learn about the features of a smartphone and how they influence the design of an app, all the way to actually designing your own clickable prototype app. You’ll also hear from experts and people getting started in app design about how they use their skills to make amazing products.

Skip to 0 minutes and 44 seconds This course group is part of our portfolio of digital and professional skills courses, which covers a diverse range of subjects from coding to remote working, all available for free to help you begin building your career today. Whether you’re new to the world of work or forging a new career for yourself, we’ll look forward to sharing your journey into the fast-moving digital space. Join us online now.

What topics will you cover?

How a smartphone works
The features that make a phone interactive
Looking for problems to solve with apps
Designing an app
Testing an app
Meeting an app development team

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

Identify the features of a smartphone that influence the design of an app.
Describe how interactive and visual features contribute to great user experience of apps.
Discuss the various roles and stages necessary to make a mobile app.
Identify and describe a simple problem that an app could solve.
Design screens and architecture of a mobile app using pen, paper and your own smartphone.
Produce clickable prototypes from your sketches and test them.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for anyone interested in app design. It will be particularly useful if you are looking to understand apps and UX or if you just want to increase your digital skills and build confidence using digital technology in the workplace.

Who will you learn with?

Tom Armitage

I'm a technologist and designer. I make things out of hardware, software, and the internet. When not making technology and art, I also write music and build instruments. I originally studied English.

Who developed the course?

University of Leeds

As one of the UK’s largest research-based universities, the University of Leeds is a member of the prestigious Russell Group and a centre of excellence for teaching.

Click Start

This course is part of Click Start, a nationwide training programme developed by the Institute of Coding (IoC) , a national collaboration of universities, employers and charities and funded by Nominet – the public benefit company and guardians of the .UK namespace.

Institute of Coding

The Institute of Coding (IoC) is a national collaboration of employers, universities, and charities, on a mission to provide people from all walks of life with access to digital learning and career opportunities.

Endorsers and supporters

funded by

supported by

What's included?

University of Leeds are offering everyone who joins this course a free digital upgrade, so that you can experience the full benefits of studying online for free. This means that you get:

Unlimited access to this course

Includes any articles, videos, peer reviews and quizzes

Tests to validate your learning

A PDF Certificate of Achievement to prove your success when you’re eligible

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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