Featured UX Certified Professionals

UX Certification Benefits

“The NN/g UX Certification and the wealth of UX knowledge and expertise that comes with it has supported me throughout my career as a user experience specialist and now manager. With every phase of my career path, the NN/g UX Certification Program has a skills track that always fit my needs."

Organization Benefits

"Credentials and certifications are of high importance in the engineering sector. Having several NN/g UX Certified user experience specialists in our organization has helped us show our customers that we take good design seriously and are highly qualified to creating great user experiences."

Motivation

“Aside from the validation that comes from being a certified professional, coming to a NN/g UX Conference is like coming home to “my people”. In a very large engineering organization, it is hard to find a UX community that can compare to the community at an NN/g UX Conference. You can expect to meet all kinds of people who are experiencing the same struggles and victories that you are. You share stories and learn things from NN/g UX Certified professionals and other attendees that you would never be exposed to in your own organization. This has been invaluable to my career path."

Career Path

Sandy has been with Harris Organization for 13 years and has spent the past 10 years slowly and methodically evangelizing User Centered Design to become a company standard. They have grown from a UX team of one, to 9+ highly skilled user experience specialists. They have standardized the UCD process and created a design system that is allowing their developers to quickly create usable, UX vetted interaction elements in their applications. This year their team received a corpoate quality award for their work on UX outreach and our design system. They are now delving into UX and conversational interfaces.

UX Certification Benefits

“I learned things that I could immediately put into place when I got back to work.”

Organization Benefits

“I’ve added skills and I've learned more techniques, for instance, in the area of usability testing or the human mind usability. I learned a lot of psychological information that’s a little bit harder to notice in real life, but it's useful and valuable. I had been conducting usability testing for a while, and then I took the class here. Not everything was new, but it certainly helped me become better.”

Motivation

“I was transitioning from caring for only aesthetics to improving and creating a user-friendly experience. I've evolved in my career, so I've been passionate about really having user data to inform my practice. I had already known and respected NN/g and was already taking classes. There was this bonus of applying what I’ve learned toward UXC. It made it convenient.”

Career Path

Jaime made her mark in the world of audio by being the first to do UX work at both of her audio-industry employers: first Polycom, then Dolby. Her biggest UX accomplishment to date was helping to design a groundbreaking, award-winning conference phone, the Polycom® RealPresence TrioTM.

UX Master Certification Benefits

“Achieving a UX Master Certification has enabled me to provide better qualitative research, enabling my colleagues to understand the reasoning behind user’s decisions and thought processes.”

Organization Benefits

“Our newest website redesign project has been a watershed moment for our company in the realm of UX. For the first time, I have been able to be drive our preparations more thoroughly by creating and implementing useful personas and testing our information architecture rather than simply jumping into a graphical design we think might work. And also for the first time, I have been able to get UX testing built directly into the project plan. Really understanding UX concepts and applying the results of usability studies helps me produce more usable tools and websites for my customers, both internal and external.”

Motivation

“I attended my first NN/g conference in 2008, initially thinking that would help my design and development layouts. However, it was during this week that my introduction to the world of UX would begin and I would start to learn how it would affect everything that I, as a web developer, would produce. It was during this initial weeklong experience that I knew UX was an area of proficiency I would need to be successful. I subsequently attended additional NN/g conferences, and after learning they would be offering a UX Certification Program, it became my goal to achieve this standard.

Career Path

Making usability a priority has become my priority throughout every part of the development process. Whether through an online community or simply reading articles from NN/g, UX has become more than just a training class I attend once a year. It has become an important skill I am passionate about. It helps me be successful as both a web developer and a project leader.

UX Certification Benefits

“The courses help me continue my professional growth and to stay on top of trends in the industry. I also like to see how others are tackling the same issues so that we can learn from one another.”

Organization Benefits

“My knowledge helps my organization create and build successful products. Setting the design and UX standards for my organization, I incorporate best practices learned through NN/g training, which enables me to bring the most user-centered technology forward for the mining teams, in previously uncharted territory. The knowledge I gained through UX Certification helped me create a solid foundation onto which I can build a team and include best processes into each project.”

Motivation

“My main motivation is to be the best UX designer I can be. I care about UX, and want to continue to build on my years of graphic design experience, integrating psychology into my design. I attended NN/g’s conference because I wanted to learn from the best in the industry.”

Career Path

“I started as a graphic artist with CustomInk and became a manager of different design teams throughout my 10-year tenure. During that time, I was involved with different UX projects and decided to focus on UX full time. I worked for different startups and non-profits since, and am currently the UX Designer for Barrick Gold Corporation, designing their first-ever apps for miners.”

UX Certification Benefits

“The knowledge gained from the training has provided me the proper tools when creating user experience strategies. Having the certificate has helped me be more successful in my career as a designer.”

Organization Benefits

“Having the UX Certificate had brought awareness to my team about the value of user experience. Being the user experience champion and educator within my organization has encouraged others to recognize the value and become user advocates themselves.”

Motivation

“I wanted to be able to have the expertise and credibility necessary when participating in design and functionality decisions. I recognize that no other organization provides the level of knowledge and practical application that NN/g provides.”

Career Path

“Continuing to expand my UX knowledge by seeking to achieve the UX Management Specialty so I can apply that additional knowledge on a management level to ensure the best possible experience for my end users.”

UX Certification Benefits

“The practical examples backed up by robust research provide invaluable learning for immediate impact. I’ve been fortunate to attend a variety of courses over the years, each accelerated my learning across the many different verticals of UX.”

Organization Benefits

“Having the UX Certificate had brought awareness to my team about the value of user experience. Being the user experience champion and educator within my organization has encouraged others to recognize the value and become user advocates themselves.”

Motivation

“In my early career I naturally occupied the design and development end of the UX spectrum, knowing full well my research skills were lacking. My first NN/g training was a 3-day course on usability testing which helped me crush the barriers to getting out of the building and working with end users. Even though I’ve attended many NN/g courses over the past decade, that first usability testing course has been a catalyst for my personal development and career. Since then I’ve built an onsite UX lab with eyetracking, Physiology monitoring, and remote streaming. Year on year we’ve doubled the number of hours spent in the lab, and last year alone I personally conducted over 200 hours of moderated UX and conversion research for our clients. And it all started with that first NN/g course.”

Career Path

Following a degree in Product Design, Chris began his career co-founding a technology start-up in which he invented and patented a cloud-based CGI rendering pipeline. 5 years later, he returned to his passion of User Centred Design and established the UX practices at a market research organization before being recruited into his current position at McCann, where he now heads the UX and Optimization team.

UX Certification Benefits

“I learned a lot of things attending, and also from course materials; techniques that I can use, especially on usability testing. I really connected on a higher level. I even got some feedback from my fellow attendees about programming, which I'm using right now.”

Organization Benefits

“I went guerilla, like more guerilla testing. We went to the offices where our users are with testing software I got from some of the other NN/g attendees. There was a whole thing that happened the Amsterdam conference.”

Motivation

“I was following NN/g for a while because I was looking for education or a refresher course. Jakob Nielsen is quite a name in the industry; he's lived up to his name and to that of the NN/g organization. I have followed them. I said to my colleague, ’You know, I really want to do the whole conference thing.’ He did it first in London, and when it was came to Amsterdam, I was there.”

Career Path

“Transitioning from only caring for aesthetics to improving or creating a positive user experience for users and in all facets of a company.”

UX Certification Benefits

“It helped me solidify my UX content expertise early on. I created the first content strategy for VerizonWireless.com Support, which covered everything from development to governance.”

Organization Benefits

“At Verizon, I saw the entire Internet organization transform because of UX training. The organization had a common understanding and vocabulary about how to truly put customers first online. We became smarter about testing enhancements to ensure we used resources for maximum impact. The content strategy I developed was eventually benchmarked for an enterprise-wide content alliance.”

Motivation

“The customization options for choosing a specialty is what sets NN/g’s training apart from other certification programs. They have robust programs covering UX, content strategy, and mobile. The courses are relevant, timely, and forward-thinking."

Career Path

Lisanne started taking NN/g courses in 2010, and it accelerated her career at Verizon Wireless, where she spent 17 years. Later, she founded UXContentStrategy.com in order to solve new challenges. She returned to NN/g to complete the UXC Program.

UX Certification Benefits

“I basically attribute everything I know about user experience to NN/g. I'm grateful for all the great insight on the website, and now these courses. They are pioneers of their craft and I wholeheartedly like to follow the methodologies. I believe in it, and I believe in the cognitive science behind UX.”

Organization Benefits

“My boss sees value in it because of all the projects and deliverables that I'm getting out, and giving to the right people to consume it. And the developers are starting to have UX thinking.”

Motivation

“I wanted to add credibility to my role. One of the hardest things that I've ever had to do is describe UX, describe the methodologies and the processes that you go through. It’s a career progression and it gives you the influence that says you put the time in. It's just like any other degree. The experience has always been good. I'll come back every year.”

Career Path

“As a Multimedia Director, I hated designing user interfaces because people didn’t ‘get’ the trendy designs that I was proud of. Then I discovered UX. It's really been a fun career path.”

UX Master Certification Benefits

“The immediate benefit is that I feel a lot more confident about what I’m doing, what I’m saying to people when I espouse the value, the benefits of user-centric thinking.”

Organization Benefits

“In the world of government contracting, procuring contracts whether state or federal, it bodes well if you hold multiple certifications as a way to prove experience. It’s definitely an attractive thing for me that I can put acronyms after my name. And just having the reinforcement gives confidence in what I can provide, what kind of knowledge and skills I can provide at a project level.”

Motivation

“A lot of the job for someone who is going to be a UX practitioner is not just the acquisition of hard skills, but knowing what the framework is and then knowing when to apply the right technique. Each NN/g instructor brings their own interpretation of, ‘These are my practices, this is my framework, and this is what I can use.’ I decided after reading about the specializations and different levels, that if I planned it out well, I could get the Master’s Certification with specialties.”

Career Path

“Artist/ designer/ organizer/ standards leader/ use-centered design leader. I used to make beauty for myself, now I do it for others.” She kick-started her organization’s UX.

UX Certification Benefits

“Soft skills, like the way I behave in a group and change my usual way of doing something in favor of getting something done. I think I’ve learned a lot of that here. You know you’re right. But that doesn’t mean everyone knows you’re right. So, you have to change your way of acting and responding, and eventually you get done what you want to get done. Being better at soft skills makes me more appreciated by coworkers, which results in more trust.”

Organization Benefits

“I went to the NN/g Conference in London, and I came back all enthusiastic and fired up. It was like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to do this!’ And then 2 of my colleagues went. One of them actually went to the San Francisco conference too.” Tom’s manager can charge more for contracts because of Tom’s advanced UX training from NN/g. The UXC Program is a product differentiator for Tom.

Career Path

“First functional design, then visual design, now UX design. I have always done development and consultancy as well.” From the Netherlands to London to San Francisco, Tom Verhage has made international work part of his job description thanks to a strong ROI on the UXC Program.

UX Certification Benefits

“I took it because it was a challenge for me. I was reading and reading, and thought, ‘What do you really know about UX? Do you really understand the thing you are working on or not?’ Sometimes, when you meet somebody or you go to some countries like Japan or China, in many cases a certificate is very important to prove what you know.”

Organization Benefits

“As software engineers, we are more logical. In many cases we are designing for other people. Only with the user can we can we find the final answer. And NN/g has a lot of these reports, real cases, with real people.”

Motivation

“I truly believe in the research studies that NN/g does. For 20 years, I’ve been reading their newsletter articles. I like their approach, not following the first new design that’s out there. Engineers want proof that something is going to work or not, and why. I needed to have a foundation of principles in user experience, people who truly know the topic they are talking about. And I felt that it was the best way network with people who have the same interests.”

Career Path

“I have been working all my career to create software that makes software.” Gastón has worked for the same employer to improve software development over two decades. His training from NN/g has helped him to confirm his UX expertise and to develop blueprints for an innovative path. He wants his company’s software development process to be like an artist’s flow when creating a masterpiece, instead of the more typical assembly line.

UX Master Certification Benefits

“You come and you talk to people and you can improve with the networking you get here. It’s important not only to improve academically, but personally as well.”

Organization Benefits

“These courses are really, really useful. The examples and the information is down to earth. And you can go to the company where you work and you apply the knowledge. We increased the leads from 30 to 300 per week. So UX may help you to get more leads, get more sales, and get more happy people.”

Motivation

“The knowledge you get here in the courses is useful, and not only for a specific culture because you can apply it according to the needs, the scope, and the environment where you are working. The actual learning is good, and the quality never ends. You can continue to learn. Even after I got a UX Certificate, I went for the Master’s, and I’ll continue to get more Specialties. There’s always something to learn.”

Career Path

“From quality analyst to manager of a global retail store thanks to NN/g." Formed as a Computer Scientist in Mexico, with a Master degree in e-Commerce, Business and Information Technologies as well as a Master degree in Computer Science and Information Technology with specialty in distributed, multimedia, and secure systems from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain. Frank also served as UX and Digital Marketing mentor in the first Google Launchpad in Mexico, and has been invited to speak at conferences including: D10MX: International Congress of Design and Marketing; World Usability Day Mexico by UX Nights; and UX Digital Summit by UX Nights.

UX Certification Benefits

“The first thing was this real broadening of my understanding of the field. It wasn’t just doing visual design or interaction design, but integrating both together. The other thing was using Lean processes to validate the features and then using usability testing to research the interaction design.”

Organization Benefits

“We can’t say, ‘We need a better login page because it’s better UX.’ Instead, we say, ‘We need a better UX on the login page because we’ll have less abandonment there, and that means our user acquisition will go up, then our stock price goes up.’ Now, the business person says, ‘I get it.’ You’re talking to them in terms that have meaning to them.”

Motivation

“The Management Specialty is aligned with my aspirations, opportunities at my current job, and what’s happening with the industry in general. I see a lack of leadership in the UX area, which I think has to do with the maturity of UX. A lot of companies didn’t have any designers five years ago.”

Career Path

“I have been in leadership, creative, and design roles from film to 3D projection mapping to UX.” Colin combines traditional artistic techniques with digital technology for movies and UX design. He’s worked on films like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, and The Avengers. His UX passion stems from his vision of a better world and championing user feedback during the design process. The UXC Program provides a theoretical framework for Colin as a UX leader.

UX Certification Benefits

“The training has helped in discussions that I have with different stakeholders, to add some weight to what I’m saying. It's come up over the last year at least 20 times in meetings. It's not just me who brings it up, others reference it, asking ‘Hey, what did you learn there about this?’”

Organization Benefits

“I love those concepts of showing the process and presenting UX as a science, giving the team some insight into that, and success stories. That's what I'm doing with my group. We identified 4 UX successes that we did, and we put together 30 to 60-page reports.”

Motivation

“This whole UX thing is something that I have to work hard to sell. There's a lot to the science. It's complicated. I've got to educate them on the value, and the UX Certificate is a must-have for me. I wanted to solidify UX in my mind so that I could present to the world that UX is what I was, that's what I do. Going to the conference, I got exactly that."

Career Path

“Front-end website developer with an MBA and 20 years’ experience coding and managing web development projects.”