Skills Bootcamp in UI/UX Design
Course overview
Working in partnership with the Institute of Coding, Coventry University in collaboration with Gradcore is delivering Skills Bootcamps as part of the government’s Skills for Life. This is a unique opportunity to learn industry best standards and practice, develop technical skills, and all whilst we work with you to find suitable employment after you finish the course.
- Places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis to eligible applicants. Please note that individuals are only eligible to participate in one Skills Bootcamp from April 2023 – August 2024 but can apply for multiple Skills Bootcamps.
You do not need any prior qualifications but will need to meet eligibility criteria and entry requirements as highlighted below.
This 10-week technical training will feature blended learning: eight guided learning hours, Monday-Thursday 6pm to 8pm (online) and up to fifteen hours a week of structured, unsupervised. The two-hour live sessions will include academic content delivery and guided practical activities. Real-time content delivery will typically be recorded and made available for later review, and flexible support will be available outside of formally timetabled sessions and provided by Coventry University Student Proctors. The final two weeks (weeks 11 and 12) of the course will be dedicated to employability tuition and interviews. However, the employer engagement team will start contacting you with suggestions for jobs to apply for from week five onwards and offer support to learners who may need it.
An important element of Bootcamp delivery will be practice-based learning. We will embed personal and professional learning and development into our core delivery to ensure that you develop the personal and interpersonal skills required to operate successfully as a digital professional.
Dates
Technical delivery:
Week 1 - Week 10: 19 June 2023 - 25 August 2023
Employability tuition
Week 11- Week 12: 28 August 2023 - 8 September 2023
Gauranteed interview
By 13 October 2023
Employability support and coaching
4 September 2023 to 28 February 2024
Qualification
Upon successful completion of this course, learners will receive a Certificate of Attendance from Coventry University. Learners must attend a minimum of 80% of all online sessions to receive a certificate of attendance at the end of the course.
Fees
As part of the government's Skills Bootcamps initiative, this course is provided completely free of charge to the unemployed or self-employed applicants.
For those already employed, and looking to develop new skills, employers are asked to fund 30% of the costs - £1,111
What will you learn?
User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) are the tools used to bridge the gap between technology, productivity, innovation and human creativity. User interfaces are the tools and systems that we interact with on devices every day; the user experience is a broader understanding of how tech users feel about those interactions, and what this means for their future use of the technology (e.g. will they keep using it?)
User-centred design is the core principle behind these concepts. This course will help you to consider problems and develop strategies to ensure that the products and services you work on providing an optimal experience for the end-user rather than creating barriers to entry.
The course will introduce elements of design theory and philosophy (including important areas like accessibility) before exploring practical techniques for designing effective user interfaces. You will also learn to use some of the industry-standard tools and apply common practices that can help you to develop successful interfaces from scratch.
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Course breakdown
Weeks 1-2: Induction / Let’s Talk About Signs!
- Ice-breaker activity
- Introduction to the concepts of UI and UX
- The Semiotics of UX/UI
- Understanding signs as phenomena: what and how does UX signify?
- Discovering the interface and its user
Weeks 3: Prototyping / Sketching / Flows
- The five planes method for developing a project: strategy, scope, structure, skeleton, and surface
- Design ideation, processes, sketching, and the concept of the wireframe
- Refining ideas, sketching user flows
- Sitemaps, drafting user experiences
Weeks 4-5: Software
- Introduction to Figma: what is software’s role in the design process?
- Building 2D wireframes by thinking three-dimensionally: surface, skeleton, structure, scope, strategy
- Figma and building wireframes
- HTML/CSS and the structure of a website
Week 6: Research week
- The user as imaginary and what this means. User research, HCI, defining the user
- User Personas and the importance of accessible design
- Accessibility and how to implement it through the UI/UX process, designing for everyone
Week 7: Design principle
- What does good design do and how do we find it? How do we recognise good design? C.R.A.P., finding our own design limitations
- UX laws and design elements: typography, colour theory, and design principles Making the correct design choices and making the incorrect design choices effectively
Week 8: Design jam 1: An app from scratch
- This week will be project based in which participants will develop an application UI/UX from the ground up through active learning tasks and a real-world organisation brief
- Developing your portfolio
Week 9: Design jam 2: A website from scratch
- This week will be project based in which participants will develop a website UI/UX from the ground up through active learning tasks and a real-world organisation brief
- Developing your portfolio
Week 10: Post-design
- Post-launch analysis
- The next steps in your design journey
- Finalising your portfolio
Week 11 - 12: Employability tuition and job interviews
- CV writing, job applications, LinkedIn profile, interviews, job search, becoming self-employed
- Job interviews
Week 13 onwards (up to 6 months): Signposting to jobs and employability guidance
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Entry requirements
- Applicants should be available to attend the complete course from 19 June to 8 September 2023
- Applicants will need to have regular access to a desktop or laptop computer with an internet connection. Key details:
- This can be either a laptop or a desktop. It doesn’t matter which one, but it should have enough RAM and memory to support your studies. In addition, your computer will need a working microphone, speakers and web camera. Some parts of the bootcamp will make use of Virtual Machines, for which you will need to download and install the free VMWare Player (for Windows) or VMWare Fusion (for Mac OS). If you don’t have access to a computer, please apply anyway and let us know of the problem, so we can see what we can do to help.
- The right operating system. As a PC user, you need to make sure that you have the correct operating system, such as Windows 10 or 11 or OS X. Newer versions tend to work faster.
- Useful software. You will need a good office suite, such as Microsoft Office. A good web browser, like Google Chrome, is also important. It can also be helpful to have an antivirus installed.
- Reliable internet access. For an online course, a decent internet connection is essential so you can keep up with your work. A high-speed Wi-Fi connection can be obtained either at home (preferred for the best study setting) or via an outside source, such as the library, a quiet restaurant, etc.
- Computer or software specifications:
- 250 GB hard drive or higher
- 8 GB RAM or higher
- 2.0 GHz Intel or AMD processor
- Windows 10 or MAC OS 10.10 or later
- Google Chrome 96, Firefox 48, Safari 11 or later
- Anti-virus program
- Before you begin, it’s important to make sure that your computer is in tip-top working order and is properly equipped. You need to be prepared for any situation that could arise; for example, most classes have pre-recorded video lectures or live video chats, and if your speakers or headphones don’t work, you will struggle to participate.
- Unemployed applicants should be committed to securing a job interview and or attending an interview arranged by the graduate team by 13 October, and continue to engage with employability activities in order to move into/return to a role that utilises the skills acquired in this Skills Bootcamp within 6 months of completion of the course.
- Self-employed applicants should be committed to submitting a plan in writing confirming how they will utilise skills gained during this course to gain a job interview by 13 October 2023 and securing new opportunity/contract that utilises the skills acquired in this Skills Bootcamp within 6 months of completion of the course.
Note: Are you aware that you can only participate in one Skills Bootcamp during the fiscal year running from April 2023 to March 2024? While you can apply for more than one Bootcamp, should you be offered multiple places, you may accept only one.
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Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to join this course applicants must meet all the following criteria:
- must be aged 19 or older
- have the right to work in the UK. This can be checked on gov.uk/prove-right-to-work
- meet residency requirements - applicants should be UK nationals or other person with a right to live and work in the UK without any immigration restrictions who have been ordinarily resident in the UK, or the British Overseas Territories, or the Crown Dependencies (Channel Islands and Isle of Man) for at least the previous 3 years on the first day of learning.
Note: If you are unsure if you meet residency criteria, please refer to the information provided on the AEB Funding Rules page.
- Agree to provide mandatory personal data and supplementary information on their employment outcomes for up to 8 months following completion of the Skills Bootcamp.
Be either
- unemployed within the last 12 months, or
- career changers/returners/redeployed, or
- self-employed/employed
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How to apply
As a free course with places limited to 45, our application process will ensure the training is made available to those who will benefit most from the opportunity.
To apply please complete all steps below:
- Familiarise yourself with the Privacy Notice for Skills Bootcamps, Skills bootcamps privacy notice Q&A, IoC Privacy Statement, ILR Privacy Notice and CU HE Corporation Student Privacy Notice.
- Review the Learner Declaration as you will be required to sign it as part of your online applivation form.
- Complete the online application form*.
- Prepare documents to evidence your identity and age, current address, residency and right to work in the UK. The acceptable forms of ID and documentation to evidence all the above are below:
- Identity and age - Valid passport. A photo driving licence. A proof of age card such as the PASS card from the national Proof of Age Standards Scheme.
- Current address - Valid UK driving licence. Recent utility bill (gas, electricity, water, or landline phone) Council tax bill. Recent credit card or bank statement.
- Continuous residency - Documentary evidence of continuous residence in the UK – find a list of accepted documents here.
- Right to work in the UK:
- If you are British and hold UK or Irish Citizen passport or Irish passport card your will not need to provide any additional evidence for this. Right to work share code.
- f you are required to hold a Visa to work in the UK you will be asked to evidence of your right to work in the UK with a "right to work share code". If possible, please obtain this code before submitting your application via the government website: https://www.gov.uk/prove-right-to-work
* If you are required to hold a Visa to work in the UK you will be asked to evidence of your right to work in the UK with a "right to work share code". If possible, please obtain this code before submitting your application via the government website: https://www.gov.uk/prove-right-to-work.
The deadline for applications is 9am on Tuesday 30 May 2023. We’ll contact selected applicants by the end of the day on Monday 5th December to arrange a short online call to check eligibility.
If you are not satisfied with any aspect of your Skills Bootcamp and wish to raise a complaint you should do so in the first instance with Coventry University by emailing ad7523@coventry.ac.uk with full details of your issue. If you are not satisfied with how your complaint has been dealt with you may write to DfE through their Whistleblowing and Complaints process. Complaints 03700002288; Whistleblowing advice line on 0800 028 0285 or help@nspcc.org.uk.
Whistleblowing involves entering a 'whistleblowing' webform on the 'Contact the Department for Education' page, which can be found here: Contact the Department for Education - DFE Online Forms.
Whistleblowing submissions for Skills Bootcamps must be clearly marked 'Skills Bootcamps'. They will be submitted via the DfE's whistleblowing submission process and will be escalated to the DfE Skills Bootcamps policy team for response.
