HFI Launches New Course on User-Centric Innovation & Strategy

NEW YORK, April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Human Factors International (HFI) announced today a new training course created to empower user experience (UX) and design professionals to contribute to their organization's strategic planning and product innovation from the perspective of user experience.

"How to Design for the Big: User Centric Innovation and Strategy," will be taught by Dr. Eric Schaffer, founder and CEO of HFI, in San Francisco, July 14-16, 2010 and in New York, July 19-21, 2010.

"Traditionally, user experience practitioners have conducted their work at the structural and detailed design levels of product development. This course allows user experience people to move up the chain, to bring a UX perspective to the higher level of product strategy and innovation," explained Dr. Schaffer.

This 3-day course is geared for usability and UX professionals, marketing managers, e-commerce managers, brand managers, web and product designers, mobile interaction designers, and anyone interested in aligning website objectives with marketing and business strategy. Course participants will learn:

• The skills and knowledge to bring the UX perspective to strategic and innovative projects
• How to understand and take advantage of corporate and user ecosystems
• How to bring innovation ideas to fruition
• How to optimize design from the perspective of strategy and innovation
• How to add the UX model to business strategy
• How social trends impact design and interaction

"How to Design for the Big" is the second course in a four course series leading to the new Certified User Experience Analyst (CXA™) certification currently under development. The first course in the series, "How to Design for Persuasion, Emotion, and Trust" (PET design), is now being taught around the world and offers advanced techniques to motivate users to explore, discover, interact, and return to an organization's website. PET design techniques can achieve metrics-based business objectives by engaging customers and influencing them to make decisions leading to conversion, whether the site/application is informational, functional, or transactional.

For more information and a complete list of dates and locations, please visit: http://www.humanfactors.com/training/TheBig.asp

About Human Factors International (HFI)

Human Factors International (HFI) is the world's leading strategic advisor and provider of user experience design services and training to both private and public sectors. HFI helps clients design websites and products that are persuasive, engaging, and easy to use. The HFI Framework™ is the only ISO-certifiable process for user-centered design, built on principles from human-computer interaction, ergonomics, psychology, computer science, and marketing. Through an integrated blend of strategy, assessment, research, design, validation, and institutionalized usability, as well as training and certification, HFI's clients routinely experience material increases in key corporate performance indicators as a result of their efforts.

HFI customers include AFLAC, BBC, Caterpillar, Citigroup, ConocoPhillips, Dell, Ernst & Young, FedEx, HP, Lockheed Martin, McGraw-Hill, McKesson, Microsoft, National Institutes of Health, SAP, Social Security Administration, Sony Ericsson, Texas Instruments, Verizon Wireless, and Wal-Mart. HFI corporate headquarters are located in Fairfield, Iowa, with 12 regional offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Visit www.humanfactors.com.

SOURCE Human Factors International