15 Best Design Principles Courses on Coursera
We compared 15 Design Principles courses currently listed on Coursera, priced from $39.00 to $79.00. 14 come from a named university or institution, including University of California San Diego, University of Lausanne and California Institute of the Arts. They are ordered by our CourseAsk score, which is built from how thoroughly each course describes what it teaches, whether it comes from a named institution, and how it compares on price — not from star ratings, which our course data does not include.
- Courses compared
- 15
- Price range
- $39.00 – $79.00
- Providers
- Coursera
- Last updated
- 18 Sep 2026
How these 15 courses were chosen
Every course below is a real, currently listed course from Coursera, matched to "design principles" 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 $79.00, as listed by the provider when we last updated the page.
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1
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 -
2
HEALTHY URBAN SYSTEMS - PART 3 : Design and policies
Offered by University of Lausanne
This MOOC is the third part (out of three parts) of the whole MOOC on Healthy Urban Systems. This PART III is very recommended (but not obliged) to take after the PART I and PART II. Once you understood the main concepts...
$49.00listed price -
3
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 -
4
Fundamental Skills in Engineering Design
Offered by University of Leeds
The engineering design process allows engineers to execute both small- and large-scale projects by applying scientific knowledge to the solution of technical problems. Understand the key principles and techniques of engi...
$49.00listed price -
5
Technical Communication and Artificial Intelligence
Offered by Minnesota State University, Mankato
This course is designed for professionals looking to enhance their technical documentation skills and stand out in today’s job market. By completing the course, you will be able to create beginner and intermediate docume...
$49.00listed price -
6
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 -
7
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 -
8
Online Learning Design for Educators
Offered by Macquarie University
This specialization is for educators seeking to improve and expand their repertoire of online teaching skills related to the design, development and delivery of effective and engaging online courses and lessons for schoo...
$49.00listed price -
9
Fondamentaux de l’infographie
Offered by California Institute of the Arts
L’infographie est partout ! Les mots et les images, les composantes de l’infographie, sont les éléments qui véhiculent la majorité du contenu à la fois dans le monde numérique et dans celui des documents imprimés. À mesu...
$79.00listed price -
10
Beauty, Form & Function: An Exploration of Symmetry
Offered by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
This course is for anyone interested in the fundamental principles of symmetry across various fields, including art, architecture, science, and engineering. By the end of this course, you will be able to: - Analyze symme...
$49.00listed price -
11
Elements and Principles of Visual Communication
Offered by University of Colorado Boulder
This introductory course sets the baseline for understanding visual communication by introducing the concepts, vocabulary, and jobs skills relating to visual communication. We will start by covering the history of design...
$49.00listed price -
12
The Engineering of Structures Around Us
Offered by Dartmouth College
In this Specialization, you will learn some engineering principles that can be applied to structural systems everywhere: in nature, in furniture, in mechanical and aerospace systems, and in any solid object that resists...
$49.00listed price -
13
Foundations of Data Visualization
Offered by Johns Hopkins University
In the course "Foundations of Data Visualization", you will build a solid foundation in data visualization, learning how to effectively transform raw data into meaningful insights. The course covers fundamental concepts,...
$49.00listed price -
14
Introduction to Aircraft Airworthiness
Offered by ISAE-SUPAERO
ISAE-SUPAERO and ENAC, two academic and research leaders in the field of aviation and aerospace engineering, join to propose a course about the basics of aircraft airworthiness. At the end of this course, you will be abl...
$49.00listed price -
15
Foundations and Advanced Practices in UX Design
Offered by Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
This specialization provides a comprehensive learning path, covering both foundational and advanced concepts in UX design. It focuses on key areas such as user-centered design, interface creation, and user research metho...
$49.00listed price
Best Design Principles Courses on Coursera compared
| # | Course | Provider | Offered by | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Design Principles: an Introduction | Coursera | University of California San Diego | $39.00 | View → |
| 2 | HEALTHY URBAN SYSTEMS - PART 3 : Design and policies | Coursera | University of Lausanne | $49.00 | View → |
| 3 | Ideas from the History of Graphic Design | Coursera | California Institute of the Arts | $79.00 | View → |
| 4 | Fundamental Skills in Engineering Design | Coursera | University of Leeds | $49.00 | View → |
| 5 | Technical Communication and Artificial Intelligence | Coursera | Minnesota State University, Mankato | $49.00 | View → |
| 6 | Human Factors & Usability Engineering: Designing for Humans | Coursera | Arizona State University | $49.00 | View → |
| 7 | Introduction to UI Design | Coursera | University of Minnesota | $79.00 | View → |
| 8 | Online Learning Design for Educators | Coursera | Macquarie University | $49.00 | View → |
| 9 | Fondamentaux de l’infographie | Coursera | California Institute of the Arts | $79.00 | View → |
| 10 | Beauty, Form & Function: An Exploration of Symmetry | Coursera | Nanyang Technological University, Singapore | $49.00 | View → |
| 11 | Elements and Principles of Visual Communication | Coursera | University of Colorado Boulder | $49.00 | View → |
| 12 | The Engineering of Structures Around Us | Coursera | Dartmouth College | $49.00 | View → |
| 13 | Foundations of Data Visualization | Coursera | Johns Hopkins University | $49.00 | View → |
| 14 | Introduction to Aircraft Airworthiness | Coursera | ISAE-SUPAERO | $49.00 | View → |
| 15 | Foundations and Advanced Practices in UX Design | Coursera | Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati | $49.00 | 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 15 priced courses on this page run from $39.00 to $79.00, with the middle of the range around $49.00 — a spread of $40.00. 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. 14 of these are produced by a named university or institution, including University of California San Diego, University of Lausanne and California Institute of the Arts — 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 18 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.