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Power up your career with robust UX and UI Design skills

Application is currently closed. Register to receive update as soon as we open the next Upskill UX/UI Design admission. Interested in another program - see open admission programs here.

For your safety and convenience, Telerik Academy Upskill UX/UI Design will be held online.
Keeping everything else unchanged. Learn more.

Become a well-rounded UX and UI professional. Learn from the best.

Supercharge your career with the most complete UX/UI Design program. Master two of the most in-demand and highest-paid design skills that will make you an invaluable asset to your team and highly sought-after by employers. Learn from Bulgaria’s leading UX and UI experts who will share verified frameworks and hands-on methodologies.

With classes up to 3 nights a week, this most complete UX and UI program makes it possible to also balance work or other responsibilities.

Application

Who is this for?
If you are a designer, an illustrator, a visual arts student or graduate, looking to join the IT industry and work in one of the most in-demand non-developer roles in tech, this program is the best first step. You don’t need previous UX or UI experience. You only need to be 18 years of age or older.
What do UX Designers do?
UX (User Experience) designers serve as the voice of the users. Laser-focused on how something works and how people interact with it, they are vital to every digital product organization.
What do UI Designers do?
UI (User Interface) designers make sure that every interaction with the finished product aligns with the vision of the UX designers. UI professionals obsess over the look of the product, define interaction models, design layouts, and build prototypes.
How can I apply?
To join you need to demonstrate at least basic design/illustration skills that are essential to your success in this program. You must submit a portfolio with your designs, or a sample of your creative work. We’ll help you sharpen and expand your portfolio with our free pre-course training. That’s it, there’s no entrance exam.
For other questions, check out our FAQ.

Timeline

Nov 12 – Feb 14

Submit portfolio and application form. Until Dec 20 for pre-course training applicants

Dec 2

Watch the career webinar

until Dec 23

Pre-course training admission

Jan 4 - Feb 7

Join online pre-course training

until Feb 14

Attend an interview (upon request)

Mar 8

Program starts

Jun 10

Program ends

Boost your application with our free pre-course training

Pre-course training

Not confident about your portfolio? This pre-course self-study training will get your ready for our program in just 5 weeks. You’ll go through 5 essential topics: graphic design principles, composition, typography, colors, and UI design tips and tricks. How does it work? Every Monday, you’ll get access to a new collection of curated materials and receive a creative assignment. Every Thursday, you’ll participate in a one-hour Q&A session with our experienced trainers, and you’ll be expected to submit each assignment by Sunday.

How to join and what to expect?

Prerequisite: Complete your Telerik Academy Upskill UX/UI Design application and submit your portfolio by Dec 20.

Eligibility: Participants in the pre-course self-study training will be selected based on their application and overall motivation.

Schedule: Curated materials will be published every Monday (Jan 4, 11, 18, 25, and Feb 1). Q&A sessions with our trainers will be held every Thursday (Jan 7, 14, 21, 28, and Feb 4) from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

It’s perfect for you if:

You have a design portfolio you want to improve and increase your chance to be admitted into the program
You want to refresh and ramp up your design knowledge before the program starts
You’ve spent some time learning design (on your own or in a course) and want to get ready for the program

What you’ll finish with:

Enhanced knowledge of the design fundamentals, essential for UX and UI designers
Tips and tricks from our trainers and additional hands-on experience
Elevated design portfolio that will boost your application, and help earn your spot in the Upskill UX/UI program

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Curriculum

Immersive Program

Master the wide spectrum of UX/UI design responsibilities and processes, and learn the secrets of crafting digital experiences for every screen. From working on strategy and research through creating a rich prototype, testing it, and developing a complete design for a digital product, and finally – to presenting your work, you’ll gain all the skills needed to be a well-rounded UX/UI designer.

Path to Success

At Telerik Academy Upskill UX/UI you will:

Attain advanced knowledge of the work of a UX and UI designer
Master skills and tools you can put to practice right away
Gain the most complete understanding of UX/UI design methodologies
Find out how to create user-centric designs that positively impact your business
Learn actionable steps and frameworks to help you become a highly valued professional

See Full Curriculum

Hide Full Curriculum

Module 1: UX (2 weeks)

Kickoff

Strategy 1

Strategy 2

Scope

Practice/Team Consultations

Project Presentations & Test

Module 2: UX (4 weeks)

Structure

Skeleton

Usability Testing

Remote Testing, Heuristic Evaluation, UX Mapping

Practice/Team Consultations

Vacation - 1 week

Midterm Presentations - 1 week

Module 3: UI (3 weeks)

Kickoff & UI Design Fundamentals

Web-based Design

Mobile-based Design

IoT-based Design

Layout & Grids

Practice/Team Consultations

Vacation - 1 week

Module 4: UI (2 weeks)

Advanced Typography

Advanced Colors

Design Systems 1

Design Systems 2

Practice/Team Consultations

Module 5: UI (3 weeks)

Animation

UI Tips & Tricks, Handoff

Presenting Design Work

Practice/Team Consultations

Final Presentations - 1 Week

Graduation

Certificate of Graduation

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Program Details

Prerequisite

Some design, illustration or visual arts background and good English language skills. No previous experience in the IT industry required.

Duration

To get the most out of the program, you’ll need to immerse in it for 3 months. To recharge your batteries, you’ll have 2 weeks of vacation.

Schedule

Lectures are held 2 to 3 times a week (Monday-Wednesday, 6:00-9:00 pm). You can seamlessly combine them with your job or studies.

Commitment

The program is intended to be onsite, but may be held partially or fully online, depending on the COVID-19 situation. Expect an average of 6-9+ hours per week and additional time for self-preparation.

Language of instruction

Courses are conducted in Bulgarian, but all learning materials are in English.

Same great program. Same top trainers. Now completely onlinе

This is no traditional online training. We transitioned everything online to keep the same high quality, engaging learning experience, and 100% focus on practice.

Learn from master practitioners from the safety of your home, get continuous feedback, work on real-world projects in groups, and build a network that will boost your career.

Trainers

Georgi Balinov

UX/UI Lead Trainer

Creative Director &
Co-founder, HYPE

George is a seasoned digital designer with 13+ years of experience in creating digital products and brands with teams and clients around the world. His main focus has always been delivering delight to people through his work. For the past 5 years he’s been leading some of the first UX and UI trainings in Bulgaria.

Polya Vassileva

UX/UI Trainer

Head of Design & UX,
Telerik Academy

Polya has over 13 years of experience in the field of marketing, UI and experience design. She has headed creative teams for companies like Telerik and Progress, as well as crafted numerous on-screen products in the e-commerce, service and software sectors, for industry giants and startups alike.

Georgi Linkov

Guest Lecturer

Co-founder and CEO,
Studio X Creative

Georgi has 20 years of experience in Digital Art Directing, UX and UI. He has led large-scale projects commissioned by BG and international clients. He is mainly focused on the symbiosis between functionality and aesthetics that are crucial to achieving high-quality UX and meeting the client's goals.

Svetlin Nikolaev

Guest Lecturer

Director UX,
DevTools, Progress

Svetlin has 15+ years of experience as a visual and UX designer. Prior to joining Telerik/Progress, he worked for a leading agency with accounts such as Coca-Cola, Audi, Tuborg, ELLE. Leading the Telerik DevTools design team, he’s responsible for the UX of developer tooling products and services.

Antoaneta Tsaneva

Guest Lecturer

Director, User Experience,
Gtmhub

Antoaneta has more than 16 years of experience in the UX field. Her expertise covers UX design, user research and product development. She is passionate about building strong and successful design teams while driving development and ideation process for industry-leading software products.

Pavel Pavlov

Guest Lecturer

Design Director &
Co-Founder, FourPlus

Pavel has 15 years of experience in Graphic Design, with a key focus on Motion Design. His experience spans from creating UI animations and concepts for the automotive industry in Germany and the US to helping launch India’s biggest telecom and teaching Motion Design courses in Martinique and the National Academy of Arts in Sofia.

Valentin Likyov

Guest Lecturer

Product Designer,
VMware

Valentin started his career as a Web Designer and later transitioned to an Interaction Designer position within Telerik’s web marketing team. Since 2017, he has been working as a Product Designer at VMware shaping the future of enterprise software for cloud automation. He focuses on ease-of-use and user behavior patterns in apps and websites.

Vasil Yordanov

Guest Lecturer

Staff Product Designer,
Leanplum

Vasil joined Leanplum two years ago coming from Telerik, where he had spent a decade designing guidelines, themes and demos for ASP.NET AJAX and Kendo UI Components. His responsibilities today cover the full product design spectrum - from research and wireframes, through customer validation, to high-fidelity UI assets.

Svetoslav Simov

Guest Lecturer

Founder and Director,
Fontfabric

Driven by a lifelong interest in geometry and letterforms, Svet founded Fontfabric to merge the two worlds through the prism of typography. He’s a self-confessed perfectionist who excels at geometric sans design, never shies away from a challenge and is consistently pushing the boundaries of creativity in search of visual superiority.

Plamen Motev

Guest Lecturer

Type Director,
Fontfabric

Plamen is a designer who believes that aesthetics and functionality should go hand in hand. His strong focus on typography brought him to Fontfabric type foundry, where he is responsible for the creative team. Plamen has more than five years of experience in leading retail and client’s projects for the international market.

Stefan Ivanov

Guest Lecturer

UX Manager,
Infragistics

Stefan is a seasoned UX practitioner and interface designer with background in Computer Science and Human-Computer Interaction. Besides crafting design and developer tools for the enterprise, he has a solid track record in design leadership, having orchestrated numerous UX courses and conferences in Bulgaria.

Martin Bonov

Guest Lecturer

Design Director
& Founder, Kickflip

Martin is a detail-oriented designer passionate about bringing functional, social and emotional value to the users. Over the years he has explored various areas of user experience, interface design and front-end development while launching more than 200 websites and digital products.

Joro Yordanov

Guest Lecturer

Partner & Design Director,
Oblik Studio

Joro has 15+ years of experience as a designer and coder. He has worked on award-winning campaigns for local and international brands. In 2014 Joro co-founded Oblik Studio - a result-driven team of 10+ creatives. Since 2017 they have been partnering with Nexo, which soon after became a leading fintech institution with 1M+ users. Ex-lecturer of web design at TUES. Interested in bootstrapping and building teams.

Upskilling professionals

As a graphic designer, the UX part was a completely new area of expertise for me. The course helped me learn the fundamentals and practice the new skills by creating a product from scratch. The overall vibe of the program was both competitive and interactive, stimulating both my personal and professional growth.

Elena Draganova
Independent UX/UI Designer

The course provides a comprehensive hands-on experience, which strikes the right balance between theory and practice. The program taught me how to prioritize functionality, simplicity, and consistency over spontaneous decisions in my design. Not to mention the great improvement in my teamwork and presentation skills.

Maria Sufieva
Freelance Illustrator

From defining the business goals and the user personas to creating a polished user interface, the course was invaluable to my future career development. I highly recommend it!

Martin Tsekov
UX Designer

The program is an outlier because it simulates a real-life experience. I value the opportunity of creating a tangible product – addressing the needs of the users and improving their experience.

Denitsa Kusheva
Marketing Professional & UX/UI Enthusiast

Alumni Projects

To practice and showcase everything mastered in the program, participants create an end-to-end design for a digital product and publicly present it. Here are snippets from just a few of their amazing projects.