What is database design?

Database design is a collection of processes used by data engineers and network managers to design, develop, implement, and maintain enterprise data management systems. Some of the work involved in database design includes managing code upgrade projects that include hardware and software development, enhancing current database modules with varied metric reporting functions, and integrating procedures for assigning database security privileges across an organization. What's important about database design is that the process of accurately structuring a database helps to reduce errors by eliminating wrong, unnecessary, or duplicate data. Properly designed databases are also cost-effective, as they save space in disk storage systems.

Why is it important to learn about database design?

It's important to learn about database design to get a better understanding of how relational databases work and how to display the data structure within the database. Learning about database design would help you analyze the requirements of the database for an organization and design a logical and physical model for the database. Designing a logical model focuses only on the requirements of data, not how or where the data will be stored physically. Designing a physical model takes the data structure into a physical space, implementing hardware and software needs.

What are careers that use database design?

Careers that use the skills and knowledge of database design concepts include a cloud systems database developer, a visual systems developer, and a senior systems engineer. You can find work in administration for government agencies as a database administrator, or work in tech companies in modeling databases. There are also careers in system architecture and software analysis that you can pursue with knowledge of database design.

How can taking online courses help me learn database design?

When you take online courses about database design, you will learn how to come up with the full design of the database. This work will include each of the necessary elements, including designing and implementing the database schema, tables, indexes, columns, and fields. In exploring career opportunities in database design, you will gain a foundational understanding of data-design techniques to earn a good salary with interesting work in corporations and organizations.

What are the benefits of taking an online Database Design course?

Online Database Design courses offer a convenient and flexible way to enhance your knowledge or learn new Database Design skills. Choose from a wide range of Database Design courses offered by top universities and industry leaders tailored to various skill levels.

What Database Design courses are best for training and upskilling employees or the workforce?

When looking to enhance your workforce's skills in Database Design, it's crucial to select a course that aligns with their current abilities and learning objectives. Our Skills Dashboard is an invaluable tool for identifying skill gaps and choosing the most appropriate course for effective upskilling. For a comprehensive understanding of how our courses can benefit your employees, explore the enterprise solutions we offer. Discover more about our tailored programs at Coursera for Business here .

Best Database Design Courses & Certificates [2025]

Explore the Database Design Course Catalog

Status: Free Trial
University of Colorado Boulder
Relational Database Design
Skills you'll gain: Database Design, Database Management Systems, Database Development, Relational Databases, Database Theory, Databases, Database Architecture and Administration, Data Modeling, Data Integrity, Metadata Management, Dependency Analysis
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
318 reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Status: Free Trial
IBM
Introduction to Relational Databases (RDBMS)
Skills you'll gain: Database Design, MySQL, IBM DB2, Relational Databases, Databases, Database Management Systems, PostgreSQL, Data Management, Database Architecture and Administration, SQL, Data Integrity, Data Modeling, Data Manipulation, Command-Line Interface
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
752 reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Status: Free Trial
University of Michigan
Database Design and Basic SQL in PostgreSQL
Skills you'll gain: Database Design, SQL, Relational Databases, PostgreSQL, Database Theory, Database Management, Data Modeling, Databases, Data Integrity
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
1.1K reviews
Intermediate · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Status: Free Trial
University of Michigan
PostgreSQL for Everybody
Skills you'll gain: Stored Procedure, Database Design, SQL, Relational Databases, NoSQL, PostgreSQL, Database Architecture and Administration, Database Systems, Database Theory, Data Modeling, Databases, JSON, Data Store, Scalability, Database Management, Query Languages, Distributed Computing, Cloud Applications, Text Mining, Natural Language Processing
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
1.4K reviews
Intermediate · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Status: Free Trial
Illinois Tech
Relational Database Design
Skills you'll gain: Database Design, Relational Databases, Database Theory, Data Modeling, Unified Modeling Language, Database Management, Databases, Data Integrity, Dependency Analysis, Conceptual Design, Requirements Analysis
Build toward a degree
3.9
Rating, 3.9 out of 5 stars
11 reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Status: Free Trial
University of California, Irvine
Database Design and Operational Business Intelligence
Skills you'll gain: Extract, Transform, Load, Decision Support Systems, Data Warehousing, Data Mining, Database Design, Business Intelligence, Dashboard, Star Schema, Relational Databases, Database Management, Data Visualization Software, Snowflake Schema, Data Visualization, Business Reporting, SAS (Software), Data Modeling, Interactive Data Visualization, SQL, Data Mart, Descriptive Statistics
4.5
Rating, 4.5 out of 5 stars
237 reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 1 - 3 Months

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Status: Free Trial
Meta
Database Structures and Management with MySQL
Skills you'll gain: MySQL, Database Management, Stored Procedure, Database Design, Database Systems, Relational Databases, SQL, Database Development, Database Administration, Query Languages, Data Management, Data Integrity, Data Validation
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
541 reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Status: New
Status: Free Trial
Microsoft
Relational Database Design and Advanced Querying
Skills you'll gain: Star Schema, Microsoft SQL Servers, Database Design, Relational Databases, SQL, Data Warehousing, Database Development, Query Languages, Database Architecture and Administration, Transact-SQL, Data Integrity, Power BI, Business Intelligence, Performance Tuning, Generative AI
5
Rating, 5 out of 5 stars
7 reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Status: Free Trial
University of Colorado Boulder
Databases for Data Scientists
Skills you'll gain: Database Design, SQL, Database Management Systems, NoSQL, Database Development, Relational Databases, Data Warehousing, Database Theory, Database Systems, Database Administration, Databases, Database Architecture and Administration, Database Software, Database Management, Data Modeling, Query Languages, MongoDB, Big Data, Data Architecture, Database Application
Build toward a degree
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
1.4K reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Status: New
Status: Free
Clemson University
Database Management Systems
Skills you'll gain: Database Design, MySQL, Database Management Systems, Database Theory, Databases, Relational Databases, Database Development, Performance Tuning, SQL, Database Architecture and Administration, Transaction Processing, Data Modeling, NoSQL, Query Languages, Data Integrity, Data Manipulation, Distributed Computing
4.3
Rating, 4.3 out of 5 stars
25 reviews
Intermediate · Course · 1 - 3 Months
Status: Free Trial
Meta
Introduction to Databases
Skills you'll gain: Database Design, Database Management Systems, SQL, Relational Databases, Databases, MySQL, Database Administration, Data Integrity, Query Languages, Data Manipulation
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
1.4K reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months
Status: Free Trial
Vanderbilt University
Generative AI Database Design & Management with ChatGPT
Skills you'll gain: Database Design, Data Migration, Generative AI, Software Documentation, Dashboard, Database Management, ChatGPT, Database Architecture and Administration, Prompt Engineering, SQL, Business Reporting, Prototyping, Performance Testing, Data Validation, Data Quality
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
36 reviews
Intermediate · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks