UXPA ISO Liaison

Join our community to work together on ISO standards for UX!

Why we need standards

Why are standards important for us?

Standards and norms have been around for thousands of years. People needed them for trade, taxation and construction. The Romans standardised roads and military equipment. During the Industrial Revolution, standards became even more important because factories needed standardised parts and processes. Standardised products and processes provide us with consistency and, therefore, trust. They make working together easier and improve quality. In the 20th century, organisations like the ISO helped to create standards for engineering, usability, and digital systems.

We, as UX professionals, also work with standards, mainly the ISO 9241-11. These standards paved the way for the professionalisation of UX. ISO 9241-11:2018 (Ergonomics of human-system interaction – Part 11: Usability: Definitions and concepts) is a framework for understanding and measuring usability. It defines usability as the extent to which specified users can achieve goals effectively, efficiently, and with satisfaction within a specific context of use.

Read more about ISO standards for UX in this article from Brian Traynor for the UXPA Journal of User Experience.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

Who is the ISO? And what are they doing?

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the world’s largest standards organisation. ISO is headquartered in Geneva and was founded in 1947. Starting with 25 founding countries, it now has around 175 national member bodies.

ISO has published more than 25,000 international standards and has more than 300 technical committees of industry experts, government, academia, and professional bodies. ISO standards cover almost every industry: manufacturing, engineering, technology, finance, healthcare, transport, energy, security, and consumer products.

The purpose of ISO is to create internationally agreed standards that make products, services, and systems safer, more reliable, and more efficient. These standards enable us to work together across countries and industries. They support global trade, innovation, quality, and trust.

The User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA)

Have you heard of the UXPA, our professional association?

The UXPA International (UXPA) was founded in 1991 as the Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA). In 2012, it changed its name to UXPA International to reflect the broader field of user experience.

The UXPA promotes the value of UX and user-centred design through conferences, publications such as the Journal of Usability Studies and User Experience Magazine, local chapters worldwide, networking, mentoring, and professional development activities. It also launched World Usability Day in 2004.

UXPA President & Director of Chapters

Christina Manikus
UX Researcher and Data Analyst, NextEra Energy, Inc.
chapters@uxpa.org

Interested in joining the UXPA? Learn more about the UXPA International Membership.

The International Accreditation Program for UX (IAPUX)

For us, as UX professionals, there is now an opportunity to get an official accreditation.

The International Accreditation Program for UX (IAPUX) was established in 2022 to provide an independent, international accreditation process for experienced UX professionals. It is operated by the Association for the International Accreditation of UX Professionals and Quality Assurance in the Professional Field of UX, Usability and Human-centered Design.

Its purpose is to recognise experienced practitioners through an accreditation process based on education, work history, recommendations, work samples, and knowledge of human-centred design concepts and ISO standards. Accredited professionals are listed in a professional register and can use the title ‘Accredited UX Professional’.

My role

And what do I have to do with the ISO? I am the contact person for UXPA International to ISO. I will coordinate ISO work for UXPA International, relating to ISO/TC 159/SC 4 – Ergonomics of human-system interaction. My goal is to give UX Professionals and UXPA members a voice. We UX practitioners know best how things work in practice. Therefore, we need to provide feedback on ISO standards related to UX to ensure they are relevant and applicable in practice.

The liaison with ISO is carried out on behalf of UXPA International by the International Accreditation of UX Professionals and Quality Assurance in the Professional Field of UX, Usability and Human-centered Design (IAPUX), acting under its statutes as a dedicated working group and in line with the association’s goals and activities.

How can you take part?

Do you want to take part? Sign up for our ISO mailing list to stay up to date and contribute to the development of the UX ISO standards! I will inform you about upcoming norms and deadlines, and invite you to meetings to discuss our feedback together.

Why?

• Stay informed
• Make an impact
• Collaborate and network
• Learn
• Have fun

What to expect?

• A newsletter to update you about the latest ISO information related to UX
• Collaboration on Google Drive, where we collect all our feedback on the standards and write comments
• MS Teams meetings where we discuss the feedback we will send to ISO