Your teeth become whiter, your smile wider, and your armpits have a fresh minty smell. It's well worth the expense.

Posted by: Jack on August 13, 2002 09:52 PM

 

HFI has a list of those they have certified.

They have a common set of skills and knowledge. Scary for those who are insecure with their own skills and knowledge.

Posted by: Ron Zeno on August 13, 2002 10:00 PM

 

Jack, why is worth the expense? Are you certified or on the certification track? Come on, give us your sources.

Posted by: Joshua Kaufman on August 13, 2002 11:04 PM

 

By the way, anyone going to the Indianapolis seminar? I'm thinking about going.

Posted by: Joshua Kaufman on August 13, 2002 11:06 PM

 

Jakob Nielsen is not an HFI-Certified Usability Analyst™.

Posted by: John S. Rhodes on August 13, 2002 11:17 PM

 

Josh, if a pleasant body odor is not reason enough for you, well, you are not welcome in my home. Don't get anywhere near me!

I would honestly be interested in seeing some of their exam questions.

Filbert, i before e, except after c. Do you know your a-b-c's?

Posted by: Jack on August 13, 2002 11:44 PM

 

Certification Exam Study Aids
Sample questions

Lots of people on the defensive...

Posted by: Ron Zeno on August 14, 2002 11:22 AM

 

My question is this - how can a written test determine if someone can actually perform successfully as a usability analyst? At a minimum, wouldn't you want to assess their ability to perform, analyze, and write a report on an actual usability test? There's more to being a usability analyst than what's required to answer multiple-choice and matching items (although they are easier to grade...).

PS - I am not a usability analyst. My expertise is instructional design, which has similar processes and knowledge requirements as usability analysis. And I know something about writing tests.

Posted by: Ellen Shay on August 14, 2002 02:36 PM

 

My expertise is instructional design, which has similar processes and knowledge requirements as usability analysis

Or so you have been fooled into believing. Instructional designers have a common set of skills, knowledge, and methodology. Usability analysts only pretend they have something similar.

Certification programs are one way to establish some minimal level of knowledge. Perhaps skills and methodology as well, depending on what is tested.

There's more to being a usability analyst than what's required to answer multiple-choice and matching items

Absolutely. But it's a start, and it certainly has merits over the alternative. What makes a person a usability analyst? Certainly more than a self-proclamation.

Posted by: Ron Zeno on August 14, 2002 05:01 PM

 

I know two people who are HFI certified - I thought about taking the test when they offered it for free. Could have been a "free" certification that might impress someone on a resume sometime -- but alas I was too busy that week to take the test. Now it's $500 USD...

Some folks from UPA were taking a hard look at certification a while back. I wrote about it in a Boxes and Arrows article I did to cover CHI 2002.

I also attended the UPA conference a few weeks ago, but didn't get an update on the certification effort. A quick check of the UPA site reveals that they determined a certification program is "premature" at this time. See the official certification project site for details.

My local UPA chapter met at CHI and Julie Nowicki (from the certification team) came to talk to us about the rationale for a certification -- I actually thought the certification program was a good idea. As someone who regularly tries to evaluate various external consultants, a certification would give me some idea of the person's competence -- more so then if there's no certification available. It would never be the sole criteria for selection of course -- then again, neither is a PHD in Cognitive Psych.

Also, keep in mind most people in the biz world have a fuzzy enough idea of what *usability* is -- few know how to tell if someone really knows anything about usable design or usability evaluation. Just as we are not our users when designing, a certification isn't meant to help Usability Engineers evaluate each other.

da Croc

Posted by: Lyle - Usability Guru on August 14, 2002 11:42 PM

 

The real issue is less about who gets to certify as much as who gets to de-certify and on what grounds -- as Tom DeMarco pointed out in discussions about certifying software engineers. http://www.systemsguild.com/GuildSite/TDM/certification.html

If lawyers don't get disbarred for sleeping through trials, what makes us think our certifications will have more teeth.

I agree that's it a Good Thing for our professions to develop some minimal levels of common knowledge. In some circumstances I think certifications are a good thing, for example, I hold several sailing certifications. But it's important to point out that:

1) Certifications tend to focus on discrete mechanical skills (because they're the easiest test). For example, each level of certification qualified me to take out boats up to a certain size, in certain weather conditions, up to a certain distance from shore because I've shown I can perform an associated specific list of tasks -- there's a literally a checklist associated with each certification level.

However, "creativity" and "good judgement" are some of our most important skills and those typically get left out of the test. The architect I know tell me that being creative often tends to hurt you on your licensing test, which is really about ensuring you design buildings that won't fall down.

2) Certifications only assure minimal competence. My sailing certification only means I should be able to bring the boat and crew back in one piece. It doesn't guarantee you're a good sailor -- and this is regularly proved on the water.

Do I think it's good that we have certification for sailboaters? Certainly. Compared to power-boaters, who typically don't undergo any training, even incompetent sailboater tend to be better prepared. But I'm also realistic about what certification truly means.

Posted by: George Olsen on August 15, 2002 05:51 PM