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AGENTUR FÜR ARBEIT Product Design Program Curriculum
A learning experience that’s as rigorous and in sync with the industry as it is suited to beginners and upskillers alike.
Skills-focused
Every aspect of our curriculum is specifically designed to help you cultivate the industry’s most in-demand skills. From user research to wireframing, information architecture to stakeholder management—and everything in between—you’ll graduate with everything you need to thrive in your new career.
Rigorously practical
Our project-based curriculum takes you well beyond theory to immerse you in the kind of work you’ll actually do on the job. You’ll put everything you learn to immediate, practical use through hands-on projects—all integral to the professional portfolio you’ll build along the way.
Written by experts
Our instructional designers and editors work together with seasoned and skilled subject matter experts to create and continuously update learning materials that equip you with the industry knowledge and skills that will get you hired.
Curriculum overview
Part-time
Full-time
intro-to-product-design
1 month
become-a-product-designer-with-your-bildungsgutschein
9 months
Intro to UX Design
0.7 months
become-a-product-designer-with-your-bildungsgutschein
5.3 months
Completion times are approximations based on the progress of our current students and graduates
Intro to Product Design
Product Design Immersion
This one-month course, made up of eight lessons, will introduce key components of the design thinking process and business skills required in the product design field.
1.1 Introduction to Product Design
Learn about user-centered solutions, and apply the first stage of design thinking to your task.
1.2 Product Design in an Organization
Understand how design thinking tasks guide product development, and create a high-level project plan.
1.3 Competitive Analysis & Problem Statements
Formulate clear problem statements based on market insights, and learn market research techniques and analysis.
1.4 User Personas, Stories & Journeys
Create effective user personas, user stories, and a user journey map based on user goals and needs.
1.5 Design Thinking Workshops & Facilitation
Learn diverse methodologies, and plan a design thinking workshop to create a user journey map.
1.6 Idea Sketching
Describe prototyping techniques, the iterative design process, user feedback, and create a low-fidelity prototype of your wireframes.
1.7 Usability Testing
Develop a test plan that aligns with project goals and user needs, and conduct a usability test to test out your prototype.
1.8 Presenting Your Work
Demonstrate a clear and engaging presentation of your design process and solution to stakeholders.
This course provides a deeper dive into the daily practice and mindset of a professional product designer. You'll complete a total of six achievements, which will build off of each other to create a final product at the end of the course. curriculum card icon Design Specialization ai_enhanced_logo
Achievement 1
Achievement 2
Achievement 3
Achievement 4
Achievement 5
Achievement 6
Thinking like a Product Designer
Make design thinking a daily habit and apply it as you kickoff the project that you’ll complete over the next five achievements. Here’s what you’ll learn
The Role of the Product Designer
Human Needs & Motivations
User-Centered Design Process
Design Thinking
Understanding the Problem
Competitive Analysis
Lean UX vs. Agile UX
Business Requirements
User Stories
Portfolio Review
Understanding the User
Through user research and analysis, you’ll create effective user personas and journey maps, conduct a thorough task analysis, define an actionable mobile strategy for your product, and create a visually appealing and portfolio-ready site map. Here’s what you’ll learn:
Research Methods
Surveys & Interviews
User Research Analysis
User Personas
Mental Models & User Journeys
Task Analysis & User Flows
Cross-Platform Optimization
Content Auditing
IA Principles & Frameworks
Refining Your Sitemap with Card Sorting
Portfolio Review
Prototyping & UI Fundamentals in Design
You’ll learn all the skills and fundamentals to create a prototype of your design. You'll explore the foundations of UI design, learn to build a Design System, and go from low fidelity sketches to high fidelity clickable prototypes using Figma. Here’s what you’ll learn:
Navigation for Mobile & Desktop
Design Patterns for Mobile & Desktop
Usability Heuristics & Interaction Design
Visual Design Principles
Low-Fidelity Prototyping with Figma
Conceptualizing and Selecting a Design
Grid Fundamentals
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes & Prototyping
Design Systems
High-Fidelity Wireframes & Clickable Prototypes
Portfolio Review
Usability Testing
You’ll conduct usability testing for both mobile and desktop from start to finish, working with test subjects, analyzing test results, making improvements, and planning future tests. Here’s what you’ll learn:
Best Practices for Working with Human Test Subjects
Usability Test Methods
Usability Test Plan
Usability Test Script
Conducting Usability Tests
Usability Test Results & Planning for Future Tests
Reporting Findings & Making Recommendations
A/B & Preference Testing
Portfolio Review
Refining a Design for Handoff
You’ll ensure your design meets accessibility guidelines and is emotionally engaging for all users. Then you'll ready your design documentation for a developer handoff. Here’s what you’ll learn:
Designing for Accessibility
Emotional Design for User Engagement
HTML Basics
Alternatives to HTML: Native Platforms
Responsive Frameworks
Design Documentation
Design Deliverables
Design Collaboration
Portfolio Review
End-to-End Design
You’ll compile all your design iterations up to this point and make final fixes to your design. You’ll also work on publishing your online portfolio and creating a video demo of your work. Here’s what you’ll learn:
Agile Design Process
Designing for Good
Online Portfolios
UX Communities
Video Presentation
Portfolio Review
Intro to Product Design
This one-month course, made up of eight lessons, will introduce key components of the design thinking process and business skills required in the product design field.
1.1 Introduction to Product Design
Learn about user-centered solutions, and apply the first stage of design thinking to your task.
1.2 Product Design in an Organization
Understand how design thinking tasks guide product development, and create a high-level project plan.
1.3 Competitive Analysis & Problem Statements
Formulate clear problem statements based on market insights, and learn market research techniques and analysis.
1.4 User Personas, Stories & Journeys
Create effective user personas, user stories, and a user journey map based on user goals and needs.
1.5 Design Thinking Workshops & Facilitation
Learn diverse methodologies, and plan a design thinking workshop to create a user journey map.
1.6 Idea Sketching
Describe prototyping techniques, the iterative design process, user feedback, and create a low-fidelity prototype of your wireframes.
1.7 Usability Testing
Develop a test plan that aligns with project goals and user needs, and conduct a usability test to test out your prototype.
1.8 Presenting Your Work
Demonstrate a clear and engaging presentation of your design process and solution to stakeholders.
UX Immersion
This course provides a deeper dive into the daily practice and mindset of a professional UXer. You'll complete a total of six achievements, which will build off of each other to create a final product at the end of the course.
Achievement 1: Thinking like a UXer
Make design thinking a daily habit and apply it as you kickoff the project that you’ll complete over the next five achievements. Here’s what you’ll learn:
-
The Role of the UX Designer
-
A History of User Experience Design
-
Human Needs & Motivations
-
User-Centered Design Process
-
Design Thinking
-
Understanding the Problem
-
Competitive Analysis
-
Lean UX vs. Agile UX
-
Business Requirements
-
User Stories
-
Portfolio Review
Achievement 2: Understanding the User
Through user research and analysis, you’ll create effective user personas and journey maps, conduct a thorough task analysis, define an actionable mobile strategy for your product, and create a visually appealing and portfolio-ready site map. Here’s what you’ll learn:
-
Research Methods
-
Surveys & Interviews
-
User Research Analysis
-
User Personas
-
Mental Models & User Journeys
-
Task Analysis & User Flows
-
Content Auditing
-
IA Principles & Frameworks
-
Refining Your Sitemap with Card Sorting
-
Portfolio Review
Achievement 3: Prototyping & UI Fundamentals in Design
You’ll learn all the skills and fundamentals to create a prototype of your design. You'll explore the foundations of UI design, learn to build a Design System, and go from low fidelity sketches to high fidelity clickable prototypes using Figma. Here’s what you’ll learn:
-
Navigation for Mobile & Desktop
-
Design Patterns for Mobile & Desktop
-
Usability Heuristics & Interaction Design
-
Visual Design Principles
-
Low-Fidelity Prototyping with Figma
-
Conceptualizing & Selecting a Design
-
Grid Fundamentals
-
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes & Prototyping
-
Design Systems
-
High-Fidelity Wireframes & Clickable Prototypes
-
Portfolio Review
Achievement 4: Usability Testing
You’ll conduct usability testing for both mobile and desktop from start to finish, working with test subjects, analyzing test results, making improvements, and planning future tests. Here’s what you’ll learn:
-
Best Practices for Working with Human Test Subjects
-
Usability Test Methods
-
Usability Test Plan
-
Usability Test Script
-
Conducting Usability Tests
-
Usability Test Results & Planning for Future Tests
-
Reporting Findings & Making Recommendations
-
A/B & Preference Testing
-
Portfolio Review
Achievement 5: Refining a Design for Handoff
Ensure your design meets accessibility guidelines and is emotionally engaging for all users. You'll ready your design documentation for a developer handoff. Here’s what you’ll learn:
-
Designing for Accessibility
-
Emotional Design for User Engagement
-
HTML Basics
-
Alternatives to HTML: Native Platforms
-
Responsive Frameworks
-
Design Documentation
-
Design Deliverables
-
Design Collaboration
-
Portfolio Review
Achievement 6: End-to-End Design
You’ll compile all your design iterations up to this point and make final fixes to your design. You’ll also work on publishing your online portfolio and creating a video demo of your work. Here’s what you’ll learn:
-
Agile Design Process
-
Designing for Good
-
Online Portfolios
-
UX Communities
-
Video Presentation
-
Portfolio Review
Built on proven learning theories and industry expertise
Dive into a comprehensive and varied learning experience designed to take you from beginner to product design pro.
Each course is packed with reading materials, supporting audio learning options, and more.
Our instructional designers work hand-in-hand with seasoned experts in the field to keep the curriculum rooted in proven learning theories, and in-sync with the latest industry practices.
Graduate portfolios
View some of the incredible work our students completed during the UX Design Program
Create your portfolio with industry-standard tools
Design Tools
We’ve partnered up with industry-standard tool providers to make sure you have access to the tools you’ll likely use in your new career. Through free trials and special discounts exclusively available to CareerFoundry students, you’ll get to test out which tools work best for your needs.
What our graduates have to say
How to take our Product Design Program
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Next start dates
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How to enroll in the CareerFoundry program1
Schedule an appointment with the Agentur für Arbeit
If you haven’t been in touch with the job center before, you can find your local center simply by searching online, e.g. “Agentur für Arbeit Berlin” or “Agentur für Arbeit near me”. Once you’ve made an appointment, you’ll be assigned an advisor.
2
Prepare for your appointment at the Agentur für Arbeit
Use our full application guide to prepare for your appointment at the Agentur für Arbeit and convince your advisor to approve your participation in the course. It covers the documents you need for the appointment.
Download our guide:
Request your personal course proposal from CareerFoundry. You might have to provide this document to the Agentur für Arbeit. It only takes a few minutes!
1
Enroll in the CareerFoundry course
The Agentur für Arbeit has issued you a Bildungsgutschein—congratulations!
Now you can begin the enrollment process. Simply press the "Start the process" button and we'll notify you about the next steps.
It takes 10-14 days to complete the enrolment process, so please bear this in mind when choosing your course start date.
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