An invoice or a certificate of completion proves that you were present during a UX training. A UX certificate proves that you actually learned something.
A UX certification is an exam that objectively demonstrates recognized competence in the areas of usability and UX (user experience).
As of December 2024, almost 9,300 people
had obtained a CPUX-F certificate,
and about 900 CPUX-M, UR, DS and UT certificates
had been issued.
About 35 independent training providers offer CPUX training.
Foundation level UX training and certification is of interest to stakeholders, for example product owners, designers, developers, marketing people, and university teachers. It is also of interest to UX professionals. CPUX-F is an example of a foundation level UX certification.
Advanced level UX certification, for example in user requirements engineering, designing solutions, or usability testing, is of interest mainly to UX professionals. CPUX-UT, Usability Testing certification, is an example of an advanced level UX certification.
Overview of this page
- Certification Benefits for UX Professionals and Stakeholders
- Certification Benefits for Employers
- Certification Benefits for Training Providers
- Quality Criteria for Certification
- UXQB – The International Usability and User Experience Qualification Board
Certification Benefits for UX Professionals and Stakeholders
UX certification can support career advancement and increased earnings
If you are a newbie in the UX area, certification tells you how to do UX work right.
If you are a lone UXer in your organization, certification can answer your question “Am I doing it right?”
If you are a UX professional, certification
- ensures that your fundamental usability and UX knowledge is up-to-date and that you know the latest thinking and good practice;
- shows that you care about your professional knowledge;
- gives you an objective measure of your skill level;
- gives you access to advanced certification in specific UX-areas, including user requirements engineering, designing solutions, and usability testing.
If you are a stakeholder, certification
- helps you understand basic usability concepts so you understand the language spoken by your UX professionals;
- allows you to answer the question “Do you speak UX?” affirmatively.
CPUX-F certification is relevant for stakeholders who cooperate with usability professionals and who want to familiarize themselves with the basic concepts and processes of user experience. Such stakeholders include product owners, project managers, software developers, designers, end users, product managers, and marketing professionals.
Certification Benefits for Employers
UX certification can provide a quality and productivity increase through:
- common terminology, concepts and procedures based on international standards reviewed by independent specialists;
- bidding advantage;
- professional development opportunities for employees;
- increased competence level of employees;
- higher credibility with customers;
- improved risk management.
Certification Benefits for Training Providers
- The CPUX certification program is recognized by professional European UX organizations.
- CPUX curricula, glossaries and sample examination questions are freely available.
Quality criteria for UX certification
Several other organizations offer UX certification, for example, Human Factors International, Nielsen Norman Group and UXQCC.
When you compare UX training and certification offerings, look for the following:
- Are the curriculum and a complete set of exam questions freely available so you can see in advance what you get?
- Are the training materials written and reviewed by named, experienced UX practitioners?
- Is the certification exam conducted by an independent, neutral organization? The trainer should not know the exam questions.
- Has the certification stood the test of time? How many people have they certified?
- How many people pass the certification test in the first attempt? The UXQB thinks that a pass rate of about 80% is right.
- Is certification possible at a reasonable price without a training course?
- Does the curriculum use UX terms in accordance with internationally recognized standards, for example ISO standards?
The UXQB meets all these quality criteria.
UXQB – The International Usability and User Experience Qualification Board
The International Usability and UX Qualification Board, UXQB, provides free UX training materials and UX certification in English and German. As of December 2024, almost 9,300 people have obtained a CPUX-F foundation level certificate. The UXQB has about 35 independent training providers, who compete freely in the market. The UXQB is active mainly in Northern Europe: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, UK, and Denmark.
Five CPUX certificates are currently available from the UXQB:
Abbreviation | Topic | Typical training, days | First release | Languages | Approximate number of people certified by end of 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CPUX-F | Basic UX concepts (Foundation) | 2 | 2014-04 | German, English | 9,300 |
CPUX-M | Essentials in UX and HCD Management | 1 | 2022-09 | German, English | 150 |
CPUX-UR | Contextual Analysis and User Requirements Engineering | 3 | 2015-07 | German, English | 390 |
CPUX-DS | Designing Solutions | 3 | 2021-01 | German | 160 |
CPUX-UT | Usability testing and evaluation | 3 | 2014-08 | German, English | 170 |