20 Best Design MOOC / Non-credit Programs Online
Choosing a design MOOC can be daunting, especially when you want a programme that matches your background and career goals. This page lists twenty non‑credit courses offered through Coursera, each priced between $39.00 and $99.00 and delivered by universities such as the University of Colorado Boulder, University of Illinois Urbana‑Champaign and California Institute of the Arts. The courses cover a range of topics from graphic design fundamentals and the history of visual communication to human‑centred design, UI/UX for embedded systems and even Python programming tailored for designers.
The selection is ordered by CourseAsk’s internal ranking, not by any external metric of quality. Whether you are a beginner seeking an introduction to design principles, a graphic artist looking to deepen historical knowledge, or a technologist wanting to blend coding with visual design, the list provides clear pricing and institutional information to help you decide which programme fits your needs.
- Courses compared
- 20
- Price range
- $39.00 – $99.00
- Providers
- Coursera
- Last updated
- 19 Sep 2026
How these 20 courses were chosen
Every course below is a real, currently listed course from Coursera, matched to "Design" by our catalog and ordered by our CourseAsk score. Courses whose own title names the topic rank above those only tagged with it.
The grade on each entry scores how much the provider publishes about the course before you pay — the length and detail of the description, whether it lists learning outcomes and objectives — and whether a named university or institution stands behind it. A is fully documented and institution-backed; E is little more than a title and a price. Courses with almost nothing published are left ungraded rather than marked down, because an unknown course and a poor one are not the same thing.
There are no star ratings on this page — the course feeds we license do not include them, and we would rather leave a column out than fill it with a number we cannot stand behind. What we do have is price: these range from $39.00 to $99.00, as listed by the provider when we last updated the page.
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1
Graphic Design
Offered by University of Colorado Boulder
Welcome to Graphic Design, the second course in the Effective Communications Specialization. Over 70 different companies have provided this specialization to their employees as a resource for internal professional develo...
$79.00listed price -
2
Grundlagen des Grafikdesigns
Offered by California Institute of the Arts
Grafikdesign ist präsenter als je zuvor! Wörter und Bilder – die Bausteine des Grafikdesigns – sind die Elemente, die den größten Teil des Inhalts der digitalen wie auch der gedruckten Welt beinhalten. Da Grafikdesign in...
$79.00listed price -
3
Understanding the Value of Human-Centered Design
Offered by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Human-centered design is an approach that focuses on human needs, goals, and experiences to frame problems, develop solutions, and coordinate resources. Through a series of videos, activities, and reflection, learners wi...
$49.00listed price -
4
Python Fundamentals for Designers
Offered by University of Michigan
Python Fundamentals for Designers is an introduction to programming using Python meant for students interested in how programming is applied to visual applications and design. The course introduces the foundations of pro...
$49.00listed price -
5
Design Computing: 3D Modeling in Rhinoceros with Python/Rhinoscript
Offered by University of Michigan
Why should a designer learn to code? As our world is increasingly impacted by the use of algorithms, designers must learn how to use and create design computing programs. Designers must go beyond the narrowly focused use...
$49.00listed price -
6
Design Principles: an Introduction
Offered by University of California San Diego
What makes an interface intuitive? How can I tell whether one design works better than another? This course will teach you fundamental principles of design and how to effectively evaluate your work with users. You'll lea...
$39.00listed price -
7
Ideas from the History of Graphic Design
Offered by California Institute of the Arts
This intensive survey examines four pivotal eras in the History of Western Graphic Design, tracing the evolution of visual communication from the Industrial Revolution through the mid-20th century. While the global histo...
$79.00listed price -
8
Creative Design, Prototyping, and Testing
Offered by University of Maryland, College Park
A validated product idea is an important milestone, but it's only the beginning of the product development journey. Before investing in development, successful product managers use design, prototyping, and customer testi...
$79.00listed price -
9
UX and Interface Design for Embedded Systems
Offered by University of Colorado Boulder
This course can also be taken for academic credit as ECEA 5346, part of CU Boulder’s Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree. UX and Interface Design for Embedded Systems is the first of three classes in the E...
$99.00listed price -
10
User Interface Design
Offered by University of Minnesota
In this Specialization, you will learn industry-standard theory and methods for developing successful user interfaces (UIs). Upon completing this Specialization, you will have fluency with the user research, prototyping...
$49.00listed price -
11
Human Factors & Usability Engineering: Designing for Humans
Offered by Arizona State University
Explore the multidimensional world of Human Factors and learn the strategies behind optimizing human interactions and performance. In this specialization, you will dive into the field of human factors, where science and...
$49.00listed price -
12
Sustainable Product Design
Offered by Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
By the end of this course, you will be able to evaluate products across the triple bottom line, conduct life cycle assessments (LCA) to quantify environmental impact, apply circular economy strategies to products and bus...
$49.00listed price -
13
Fashion as Design: Silhouettes and Icons
Offered by The Museum of Modern Art
Every garment we choose is a deliberate act of design. This course offers a deep dive into the iconic silhouettes that have defined the last century, shifting your perspective from seeing clothes simply as products to un...
$49.00listed price -
14
Experiencing Design: Deepening Your Design Thinking Practice
Offered by University of Virginia
How do we unlock the transformational power of design thinking? To do this, we must understand that this power lies not in what it encourages us to do, but in who it encourages us to become. We become design thinkers by...
$49.00listed price -
15
Programming for Designers
Offered by University of Michigan
In Programming for Designers, you will explore Python programming within a creative context, equipping you with essential computational design skills. Beginning with fundamental programming principles, you will move on t...
$49.00listed price -
16
User Experience & Interaction Design for AR/VR/MR/XR
Offered by University of Michigan
This second course in the XR for Everybody specialization looks at how to design new user experiences for XR technologies. The course provides learners with a design thinking mindset and equips them with a fundamental to...
$79.00listed price -
17
World Design for Video Games
Offered by California Institute of the Arts
Start creating your world. A game world is not just a backdrop for your game—be it minimal or detailed, contained or part of a much bigger universe, it provides the context for your player. Ultimately, a game world shoul...
$79.00listed price -
18
Data Structures for Designers Using Python
Offered by University of Michigan
In Data Structures for Designers Using Python, you’ll delve into the critical concepts of data structures and object-oriented programming, tailored specifically for design and visual content creation applications. You’ll...
$49.00listed price -
19
Introduction to UI Design
Offered by University of Minnesota
In this course, you will gain an understanding of the critical importance of user interface design. You will also learn industry-standard methods for how to approach the design of a user interface and key theories and fr...
$79.00listed price -
20
Human-Centered Design: an Introduction
Offered by University of California San Diego
In this course, you will learn how to design technologies that bring people joy, rather than frustration. You'll learn several techniques for rapidly prototyping (such as Wizard of Oz Prototyping) and evaluating multiple...
$39.00listed price
Best Design MOOC / Non-credit Programs Online compared
| # | Course | Provider | Offered by | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Graphic Design | Coursera | University of Colorado Boulder | $79.00 | View → |
| 2 | Grundlagen des Grafikdesigns | Coursera | California Institute of the Arts | $79.00 | View → |
| 3 | Understanding the Value of Human-Centered Design | Coursera | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | $49.00 | View → |
| 4 | Python Fundamentals for Designers | Coursera | University of Michigan | $49.00 | View → |
| 5 | Design Computing: 3D Modeling in Rhinoceros with Python/Rhinoscript | Coursera | University of Michigan | $49.00 | View → |
| 6 | Design Principles: an Introduction | Coursera | University of California San Diego | $39.00 | View → |
| 7 | Ideas from the History of Graphic Design | Coursera | California Institute of the Arts | $79.00 | View → |
| 8 | Creative Design, Prototyping, and Testing | Coursera | University of Maryland, College Park | $79.00 | View → |
| 9 | UX and Interface Design for Embedded Systems | Coursera | University of Colorado Boulder | $99.00 | View → |
| 10 | User Interface Design | Coursera | University of Minnesota | $49.00 | View → |
| 11 | Human Factors & Usability Engineering: Designing for Humans | Coursera | Arizona State University | $49.00 | View → |
| 12 | Sustainable Product Design | Coursera | Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati | $49.00 | View → |
| 13 | Fashion as Design: Silhouettes and Icons | Coursera | The Museum of Modern Art | $49.00 | View → |
| 14 | Experiencing Design: Deepening Your Design Thinking Practice | Coursera | University of Virginia | $49.00 | View → |
| 15 | Programming for Designers | Coursera | University of Michigan | $49.00 | View → |
| 16 | User Experience & Interaction Design for AR/VR/MR/XR | Coursera | University of Michigan | $79.00 | View → |
| 17 | World Design for Video Games | Coursera | California Institute of the Arts | $79.00 | View → |
| 18 | Data Structures for Designers Using Python | Coursera | University of Michigan | $49.00 | View → |
| 19 | Introduction to UI Design | Coursera | University of Minnesota | $79.00 | View → |
| 20 | Human-Centered Design: an Introduction | Coursera | University of California San Diego | $39.00 | View → |
Prices shown are the provider's listed price when we last updated this page. Confirm on their site before enrolling.
What the prices here tell you
The 20 priced courses on this page run from $39.00 to $99.00, with the middle of the range around $49.00 — a spread of $60.00. The options are closely priced, so cost is unlikely to be your deciding factor. A higher price on this page usually reflects who is behind the course rather than how much material it contains, so it is worth opening two or three at different price points and comparing their syllabus before deciding.
Who is behind these courses
These courses come from Coursera. Everything on this page is sold on the one platform, so the buying experience is the same whichever you pick. 11 of these are produced by a named university or institution, including University of Colorado Boulder, California Institute of the Arts and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — which usually means a fixed syllabus and a recognised certificate, rather than an individual instructor’s own course.
Before you enrol
Open the provider’s own page and check three things this comparison cannot tell you: when the course was last updated, what the syllabus actually covers in its later sections, and what recent learners say. Prices shown here are the provider’s listed price when we last rebuilt this page on 19 September 2026 — they change often, and a promotion can move them substantially. We earn a commission if you enrol through our links, which costs you nothing and never affects the order courses appear in.