Things UXers should know:

Research
Stakeholder Interviews
Facilitation
Site Maps
Process Flows / Swimlanes
Wireframes (some number of tools)
Specification Writing
Prototyping - HTML/CSS?
Usability Testing
Personas
Content Strategy, a little SEO & SEM for good measure
Business Requirements (Translation of, possibly writing of)
Mobile "stuff"
Agile, Waterfall and countless "flavors" of methodology
A variety of brief-writing skills, some which have yet to be created
QA/Bug Testing
An overall "good design" sense
…

That's just off of my head (and off the whiteboard on my wall).

We have a lot of T-Shapes in this world, and an awful lot of Venn Diagrams just 
between the people on this thread.

I'm curious: How does one create a certification for that? How many "paths" are 
there?

And I don't mean to offend anyone, but how can we go about creating 
certification when we have yet to get a clear understanding in the world as to 
what job descriptions should look like for the roles in the profession, and in 
many cases, a career path is largely undefined for our people?

Ronnie Batista is the UPA person in charge of looking at a certification 
program. I kind of wish he was here for a point-counterpoint on this stuff.

I'm not saying I agree or disagree, but I mostly sway toward disagree because I 
haven't heard a compelling way that makes UX not really sound like "all of a 
project process" just yet.

Just my nickel.

--Russ


On Jan 31, 2012, at 2:22 PM, Joe Lamantia wrote:

> I don't agree with any of those four assumptions - strong indicator, not now, 
> traps a field, and always indices stasis - but eather than dig into what 
> could easily devolve, I'd say the question to answer is whether or not 
> there's reason to offer certification from the IAI. It could be a very 
> tangible service the institute provides, encouraging membership, generating 
> revenue, etc. 
> 
> If we know what makes a good candidate (how else are we hiring...?), and what 
> makes a good certification (how else do we know the others haven't 
> worked...?), what's to prevent bringing those perspectives to bear in shaping 
> a useful certification?
> 
> Thinking very practically, in an era of rising demand for UX that outstrips 
> candidates, certification in UX of some kind could play that same role the 
> certification in other fields often plays - enabling people to facilitate a 
> transition from one career / role / etc. to another by demonstrating their 
> investment and effort. 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Jan 31, 2012, at 2:02 PM, "[email protected]" 
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>> Yeah, but it's a pretty strong indicator and it certainly shouldn't be done 
>> *now* or we'll trap a rapidly changing and developing field in the stasis 
>> that always follows certification.
>> 
>> Katie
>> --------------------------------------
>> Katie Albers
>> User Experience & Social Media Strategist
>> Founder, Principal Consultant - http://www.firstthought.com
>> [email protected]
>> 800 503 0732 (voice mail)
>> 323 309 6036 (cell)
>> =============================
>> 
>> On Jan 31, 2012, at 7:39 AM, Joe Lamantia wrote:
>> 
>> Hmm. Just because it hasn't been done well, doesn't mean it's not a good 
>> idea...
>> 
>> 
>> On Jan 31, 2012, at 5:06 AM, Bye Richard wrote:
>> 
>>> +3 for the "certification not helpful" vote. 
>>> 
>>> As a hiring manager for UX roles in London, I've never found certification 
>>> to be a reliable indicator of candidate suitability.
>>> 
>>> Richard
>>> 
>>> Richard Bye
>>> Senior Ergonomist
>>> Network Rail
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: [email protected] 
>>> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Adrian 
>>> Howard
>>> Sent: 31 January 2012 09:46
>>> To: UX Management
>>> Subject: Re: [Ux-Management] The C Word (was: Salary Survey to be released 
>>> soon)
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 31 Jan 2012, at 00:30, chris chandler wrote:
>>> 
>>>> On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 2:32 PM, Christian Crumlish <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> I don't see how certification would help me. (Not feeling berserk, 
>>>>> just think the problem isn't determining who's qualified but a simple 
>>>>> dearth of people compared to the number of funded problems out 
>>>>> there.)
>>>> 
>>>> +1 to Christian's point.
>>> 
>>> +2 Certification has never helped me when I've been hiring in domains where 
>>> it exists. I don't see it helping me hire UX folk. Especially when our 
>>> discipline is changing so rapidly.
>>> 
>>> Adrian
>>> -- 
>>> http://quietstars.com     [email protected]     twitter.com/adrianh    
>>> t. +44 (0)7752 419080     skype adrianjohnhoward     del.icio.us/adrianh
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Join the IA Institute and help build an international network sharing IA 
>>> and UX related resources. Visit http://iainstitute.org/join/.
>>> 
>>> Ux-Management mailing list
>>> [email protected]
>>> http://lists.iainstitute.org/listinfo.cgi/ux-management-iainstitute.org
>>> ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
>>>  
>>> 
>>> The content of this email (and any attachment) is confidential. It may also 
>>> be legally privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure. 
>>> 
>>> This email should not be used by anyone who is not an original intended 
>>> recipient, nor may it be copied or disclosed to anyone who is not an 
>>> original intended recipient. 
>>> 
>>> If you have received this email by mistake please notify us by emailing the 
>>> sender, and then delete the email and any copies from your system. 
>>> 
>>> Liability cannot be accepted for statements made which are clearly the 
>>> senders own and not made on behalf of Network Rail. 
>>> 
>>> Network Rail Infrastructure Limited registered in England and Wales No. 
>>> 2904587, registered office Kings Place, 90 York Way London N1 9AG 
>>> 
>>> ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
>>>  
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Join the IA Institute and help build an international network sharing IA 
>>> and UX related resources. Visit http://iainstitute.org/join/.
>>> 
>>> Ux-Management mailing list
>>> [email protected]
>>> http://lists.iainstitute.org/listinfo.cgi/ux-management-iainstitute.org
>> 
>> [email protected] | www.joelamantia.com
>> 
>> "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas 
>> Edison
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Join the IA Institute and help build an international network sharing IA and 
>> UX related resources. Visit http://iainstitute.org/join/.
>> 
>> Ux-Management mailing list
>> [email protected]
>> http://lists.iainstitute.org/listinfo.cgi/ux-management-iainstitute.org
>> 
> _______________________________________________
> Join the IA Institute and help build an international network sharing IA and 
> UX related resources. Visit http://iainstitute.org/join/.
> 
> Ux-Management mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://lists.iainstitute.org/listinfo.cgi/ux-management-iainstitute.org

_______________________________________________
Join the IA Institute and help build an international network sharing IA and UX 
related resources. Visit http://iainstitute.org/join/.

Ux-Management mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.iainstitute.org/listinfo.cgi/ux-management-iainstitute.org

Reply via email to