I passed the CUA exam!
Despite my doubts and anxiety about the exam, I proved once again that I’m up for anything I set my mind to: I have successfully passed the Certified Usability Analyst (CUA) exam yesterday!
I waited till today to write about it because it took a little while to sink in. I mean, it’s over! The ambitious plan that started early this year with my attempt to get into the field of usability and gain some credentials has now been realized.
For new readers of this blog, Certified Usability Analyst (CUA) is a certification offered by the world-renowned usability consulting company called Human Factors International as an entry-level certification for usability professionals. It’s the perfect kick-start for people who are passionate about this field of science like me.
My plan to achieve this certification involved traveling all the way to India for a 10-days training course in July. That went pretty well. I came back and had about 2 months to study for and prepare for the certification exam. I wasted no effort reviewing all the course materials and reading lots of online and offline literature on this subject. Finally, I devised a strategy for taking the exam that involved creating a reference sheet (PDF) to lookup any piece of information I may need during the exam (it’s an open-book one). The latter proved very useful during the 2.5 hours, 100 questions exam.
With this certification under my belt, I’m now ready to delve into the world of usability and human-computer interaction. As a matter of fact, I already have a blueprint for a usability career plan. The steps of this plan go something like this:
- Establish professional credibility by way of certification and actual practice.
- Work towards bringing usability knowledge and practices into my workplace.
- Start a dedicated blog and write regularly about different topics in usability such as user-centered design.
- When I feel confident with enough usability work to back me up, I will start giving public speeches and training sessions.
What I’m really hoping to achieve is something bigger which is to bring the science of usability into this part of the world and make people (especially those involved in IT) aware of it’s critical importance. I honestly hope to look back on this post one day and say with confidence that I’m at least one step closer to achieving this grand plan of mine. It’s not completely selfless, as I’ll hopefully become famous for this effort. But in doing so, I’ll also make the lives of many, many people easier since the institutionalization of usability means we will start making (and using) many products that are usable, useful and effective. Everybody’s life will be easier. It’s what computers were always meant to do, and it’s up to us to make them do just that.
26 Responses 
congratulations,
Probably you can tell us more on how this certain certification helped you, any examples that you could not do before the exam, and now you can do?
thanks,
WA7SHHH! mabrook! ur the man! :-D
Congratulations :)
Congratulations! I didn’t even realize someone offered a Usability Certification. That’s fantastic.
Wow thanks everybody!
@Nassani:
The certification helps you in taking the common sense, guessing and personal opinions out of usability assessment (e.g., website usability evaluation). Now I have research to back me up and the combined knowledge and experience of so many usability professionals to learn from, imitate and expand upon.
@Doug:
Yeah I guess HFI is the only company in the market currently offering entry-level usability certification. My research for any similar organizations didn’t find anything quite like it.
By the way, I highly recommend this certification even for non-usability professionals. I believe IT professionals today must have a working knowledge of general usability concepts, since usability is becoming the the competitive advantage for lots of companies.
Your plan sounds very solid, and by the looks of things, you’ll have no trouble achieving it. Usability is something I’m also very interested in… I’m going to go check out the Human Factors site now :)
@Skellie
Thanks for the encouragement. Your latest post on blog usability really shows how much you already know about this stuff so I do encourage you to consider CUA certification.
BTW, you’ve got a really solid blog at Skellie.org. Very informative and easy to read. Looks like you really do practice what you preach :)
Congratulations!
I’m really happy for you and I know it’s just the beginning, putting what you’ve learned and achieved in a real life scenarios will leverage your level of experience to a practitioner… You know, for example, working on my site for free ;)
Congratulations! and thanks for sharing the reference sheet.
All the best for your Usability Career
@Geek:
Thanks. You know as a matter of fact I’ll start off doing volunteer usability assessment work until I get myself established in the field. As for as you’re site is concerned, however, wake me when you have 5K unique visits a day :)
Many Congratulation on clearing your CUA exams.
Sathish Kingsley
Satyam
Thanks Sathish. We had some good times during our course. Wish you best of luck in your all your endeavours.
Did you go through the human factors courses or self study and test?
HFI Courses. Highly recommended. As I told you, the instructors are very knowledgeable and the whole experience gives you something you can’t find in the books.
[...] uxdesign.com on I passed the CUA exam!: Did you go through the human factors courses or self study and test? [...]
hi buddy,
Congrats! on your CUA certification.
I am Paras Aggarwal from New Delhi. I am a Graphics and multimedia designer for the past 9 years. I want to do the CUA certification. It would be really great if you can help me acheiving the target. I want to ask how did you prepare for the certification? Is it necessary to go to HFI and undertake their course? or can we prepare with other resources? Is there any institute in and around Delhi?
Look forward to your response :)
Paras Aggarwal
paras2004@gmail.com
@Paras Aggarwal:
I did a fair bit of research before signing up for the courses and asked many people who are now CUA-certified whether the courses were neccessary or the study materials are sufficient. The majority of them said taking the courses was far better option for two reasons: 1) the in-course teaching and learning experience 2) the exam study materials aren’t sold separately.
However, I do believe that if you do get those materials and study them thoroughly and have sound knowledge of usability principles you would be able to pass the exam, at least from the second time.
Finally, if you do plan to take the courses, HFI has several branches in India including Bangalore (where I took mine) and Delhi. Check HFI’s updated courses schedule in India.
Hope this helps. Good luck in your endeavor.
Hi
I did the “Science and art of effective web design” course in Jan in bangalore.
I want to give the CUA exams in march, but i dont know where to find books for the other 3 courses.
Could u guide me on that?I’d appreciate.
Thanks
Nitish,
Those books aren’t sold separately and you won’t find them in any digital format. Sorry to disappoint you but I think you’re just going to have to attend the rest of the courses in order to get the materials.
Hey AL – wanted to drop you a line to say thanks. I used your reference sheet on the exam today and it worked out great – it was, if you will, very usable :)
Congratulations Alaeddin on your success.
It would be nice if you can provide me some idea about the study materials and online references (if any).
Hey congrats on getting your CUA certification. I am writing the exam soon? Any tips? BTW..your ref sheet is awesome :)
Kudos to you…and More Power to ya!
Regards,
Smac
Hey AL,
Congratulations for passing the exam. I am also interested giving an exam but not able to find out study material as HFI gives it out at a time of course. I am not attending any course, can you please let me know where I will get handbooks?
Thanks & Congratulations again
Prasad
congratulatiosn dude..
Hi .
I am planing to give the exam. Is it possible to do self study and give this exam. If so , what material would you suggest.
Thanks
This is a superb post .
But I was wondering how do I suscribe to the RSS feed?
Hi AL
How easy/difficult is the exam. Do the HFI course materials suffice to take you through?
Pls advice