CUA of the Month – July, 2009

HFI is proud to recognize our 2,000th CUA: Jeffrey Mahacek

The CUA certification program is growing fast! It took 5 years to get 1000 CUAs. Yet in only two more years we've surpassed 2,000 Certified Usability Analysts (CUAs) worldwide. First launched in April 2002, HFI's CUA program has quickly grown to become the leading credential for usability practitioners.

We're proud to recognize Jeffrey Mahacek as our official 2,000th CUA. HFI's Mark Cohen, Vice-President of Marketing, recently caught up with Jeff and visited with him about the CUA program and his experience working with HFI.

Mark: Jeff, tell us about what your job entails.

Jeff: I'm the User Experience Manager for a Fortune 500 company responsible for the customer-facing websites. My job is to oversee all the user research that we do – whether it's focus groups, surveys, contextual inquiries, user testing – and manage relationships with our vendors. I'm also the internal champion for user experience and a user advocate for the organization. I drive enhancements to the organization, both from the project level – with tactical changes that we are making – and from the cultural perspective – getting people in the organization to start thinking about user experience and start considering UX in the decisions that they're making.

Continue

Mark: What made you choose to become a CUA?

Jeff: I heard about the CUA certification through HFI, who I had first approached as a possible vendor to work on some projects. I had a background in product management and design, but when my company placed the mantle of user experience on me, this was something new and exciting. I started reaching out to different vendors and partners who could teach me about what I needed to know to be successful in my job. I reached out to HFI to assist me with projects, ended up working with them, and I've been very happy with the results. I also learned about the CUA program from the HFI team. I had been designing websites for 13 years, but was interested in learning a systematic approach to design. That's the reason I took the CUA training – to provide a research-based foundation for the knowledge I have.

Mark: Are there other CUAs in your company?

Jeff: Yes, recently our Web Dev group hired several people who have gone through the program.

Mark: Now that you're the 2000th CUA, what does that mean to you?

Jeff: It's one more facet of the story I get to tell. When I'm explaining to someone what a Certified Usability Analyst is, or what that aspect of my training has been about, I used to say there were around 1400 or more in the world. Having CUAs on our team is a great investment, because when we're looking for partners we want to do business with, we can say we have CUAs in our group... and there are only so many of them in the world. Now, I can say there are over 2000 CUAs in the world, and I KNOW, because I was the 2000th! It's a fun part of the story and highlights the value and uniqueness of the certification.

Back  Continue

Mark: I understand you partnered with HFI to redesign a call center application for your company and you've also utilized one of our dedicated teams for an ongoing metrics program. So, what was it like to work with HFI on these initiatives?

Jeff: It's been a great relationship with HFI, and I knew it would be from the first second Chris and Phil from HFI walked in the door. That first meeting with them, I was not looking for a vendor; I was not looking for someone to come in and complete a project for me. I was really looking for a partner.

One of the greatest things about working with HFI is that it's never just a group of guys coming on site, getting a job done, filing a report, and leaving. Every step of the way, whether in the planning process, or working with the teams that came on site to do contextual inquiries, I was able to learn with them.

This was especially important when I was looking for a user experience vendor partnership. I was looking for a group who cared about the success of my company and my personal growth in understanding user experience design. That was one of the greatest things about HFI – in addition to being very professional and the great quality of work – I was able to learn about what they were doing and why they were doing it.

It wasn't about one initiative – it was, "Let's understand everything about your organization because that's all going to come into play with how we accomplish these goals." It was that kind of partnership, rather than just a vendor relationship, that really brought me to HFI.

Back  Continue

Mark: What else has HFI brought you in terms of value-add?

Jeff: I like the people! Aside from all the knowledge and all the help, I've developed great personal relationships working with the people at HFI. I've really enjoyed everyone I've worked with – whether it's been Chris, who brought me in, or Steve, who's my project director, or Mandar from India, who came out and helped us with the contextual inquiry. All of them are great people to work with; each of them was willing to take the time to talk me through why they were doing what they were doing, and what their thought processes were, so I could absorb as much knowledge from them as possible.

It's important to me to foster a culture of support within our organization for user experience because it's not just about getting some tests done. In my organization, it was about turning the tide from being focused on an acquisition model to a retention model. We needed to start paying attention to people after they've come in the door. Being able to introduce people in my organization to the team from HFI who were personable, who could have that cultural conversation about user experience, not just a metric driven conversation, but really run the full gamut – were big wins for HFI for me.

Mark: Jeff, thank you for taking time to share your story with us. Congratulations on being the 2000th CUA!

HFI celebrates our 2000th CUA and applauds Jeff for his accomplishments in user experience!

Back