Presentation including the UX Competency Framework presented at HCI 2011 and including analysis of the UX job market and workshop posters from UXCF 2010.

1. UX Competency Initiative
John Knight - Usability News
http://www.uxcf.org/
04-07-2011

2. UX Industry - current risks/opportunities
New industry with big impact and low barriers to entry
Low barriers to entry - anyone can call themselves a UX practitioner
Fast moving industry in constant flux requiring new skills and competencies
Diverse discipline covering widely different skills - e.g. design and research
Lack of UX education and gap between practitioners and educators
Lack of defined roles and even job titles
Lack of clear skill sets and career paths
Accreditation and standards have failed in this area
Practitioners often have (and need) multidisciplinary backgrounds - no single fix
Clients and employers may not be familiar with the discipline and know what to ask for
Risk - low quality will compromise the sustainability of the discipline.
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3. Job Postings on Usability News
Lack of common titles and roles in the industry
User Experience Consultant
Senior User Experience Professional
User Research /Tester /IA
Web Usability Practitioner
Senior UX /IA
Director, UX and Site Optimization
User Experience Designers
Lead User Experience Architect
User Experience Architect /Manager
Head of Design, Digital Media
Graduate User Experience Consultant
Junior User Experience Consultant
Manager /Lead Information Architect
Android Mobile User Experience Designer
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4. UXCF 2010 - Insights into UX Jobs
Analysis of 40 UX role descriptions
Practice orientation
Split between more tradition UCD roles and the newer UX ones
UCD roles are more research based while UX ones focus on design and best practice
Competency orientation
Roles evenly split over four orientations - Technical, Generalist, Interaction & Best Practice
Role orientation
Four way spit between - Manage, Lead, Design and Expert orientations
Attitudinal orientation
Four way spit between - Passionate, Analytical, Creative and Detailed
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5. UXCF 2010 - UX Jobs Graphic
Practice orientation Attitudinal orientation
Role orientation Competency orientation
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6. Dreyfus’ Competence Acquisition Model
Novice-to-Expert scale (1)
Level Stage Characteristics How know- Recognition How Decision-
ledge etc is of context is making
treated relevance assessed
1 Novice Rigid adherence to taught rules or plans Without
Little situational perception reference to
No discretionary judgement context
None
2 Advanced Guidelines for action based on attributes or aspects (aspects are global
beginner characteristics of situations recognisable only after some prior experience)
Situational perception still limited Analytically
All attributes and aspects are treated separately and given equal importance
3 Competent Coping with crowdedness Rational
Now sees actions at least partially in terms of longer-term goals
Conscious, deliberate planning
Standardised and routinised procedures
In context
4 Proficient Sees situations holistically rather thanmin terms of aspects
Sees what is most important in a situation
Perceives deviations from the normal pattern Present
Decision-making less laboured
Uses maxims for guidance, whose meanings vary according to the situation Holistically
5 Expert No longer relies on rules, guidelines or maxims
Intuitive grasp of situations based on deep tacit understanding
Intuitive
Analytic approaches used only in novel situations or when problems occur
Vision of what is possible
Adapted from: Dreyfus, S E (1981) Four models v human situational understanding: inherent limitations on the modelling of business expertise USAF
Office of Scientific Research, ref F49620-79-C-0063; Dreyfus, H L & Dreyfus, S E (1984) "Putting computers in their proper place: analysis versus intuition
in the classroom," in D Sloan (ed) The computer in education: a critical perspective Columbia NY, Teachers' College Press.
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7. The UXCF Dimensions
• Practice – e.g. underlying discipline – IA, user research etc
• Competency focus – e.g. abstracted skills relevant to practice - analysis
• Role – e.g. type of work done – manager, designer etc
• Externalisation – e.g. what is produced - reporting to wireframes
• Competence - novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, expert
• Progression – e.g. level in organisation/career - Junior to senior
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8. Usability News - Popular UX Job Site
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9. Applying UXCF - Usability News Jobs
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10. Other observations - gaps in education
Planning UX work and prioritisation
Pragmatic design and research decision-making and communication
Understanding of the multidisciplinary nature of UX and the various elements that are needed to
deliver quality User Experiences
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11. Some Observations - Current Job Market
• Rise of portfolios vs. CV or wireframe examples
• Method of deliverables is changing - skills relating to one option is a risk e.g. wireframing
• Medium – emphasis on Web which is overdetermined
• Client/employer capability - knowing what is good UX is maturing
• Research seems to be more tightly defined than design
• Learning on the job/intern increasing
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12. Appendix - UXCF 2010 Poster
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13. Core UX/UCD ac,vi,es and associated professions
UX Jobs UX Activities
Business
Marketing
Analysis
User researcher User requirements Functional
requirements
Concept, Service design
Ideation
Accessibility
UX Architect UX Designer
Prototyping
IA
UI Developer Interface design
Wireframing Visual design
Usability tester Usability testing Imple
m entatio
n
Web analytics
Output from UXCF2010 by Nigel Bevan

14. UX Architect
Concept/Design Implementation User research
Evaluation
Training
Skills
Innovation Proto/sketch Evaluation
Exploration Info.vis Att’n to detail
Direction Pragmatism Tech knowl.
Vision Flexibility Usability exp
Objectivity
Research
Persuasion/influence
Communication
Analytical

15. Attitude
UX PRO
Craft Make it
personal
See the big
picture Value to
Active listening Be the glue
process
Know when to between depts/
Simultaneous use method teams
bird’s eye and
detail Knowledge of Go out of
Understand
the process comfort zone
process &
and engage
methodology Analytical skills
Say what you Works in
Know a Knowledge of
cannot do teams (co-
number of [tech] industry
tools & their
Tools pilot)
Learn to learn uses Articulate
new things Responds well
to feedback
Be creative
Opinionated

16. Collaboration
Analytical skills
Active listening and facilitation
-
understanding
Collaborate
Be able and Flexible
Communication willing to
articulate user
and business
Be analytical needs
Know a Learn to learn
methodology new
methodologies
Know another Work in teams
methodology

17. Design Creative
Research
Evaluation Problem
Process solving
Multidimensional
Knowledge
UX
Personal
qualities
Skills
Pragmatism
Presentation/communication
Receptiveness Flexibility
Visual
Oral Appreciate
Written other views

18. Pragmatism Not being
defensive
Appreciation of
Knowledge Standard usability techniques others views
Flexibility
Presentation skills
Visual
Oral
Written
Knowledge Knowledge of “design process”
Knowledge User research techniques
Qualitative
Quantitative
Knowledge Best practice/standards
Prototyping
tools –
however
simple

19. UX Competency Initiative
John Knight - Usability News
http://www.uxcf.org/
04-07-2011