Anyone who has worked in the UX field for any length of time is familiar with the Nielsen Norman Group. But how good is the training program of the UX pioneer company really? A brief overview from our own experience.
To get straight to the point: The training courses offered by the Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g for short) are excellent. And although the basic training program costs an impressive 5,200 euros in total, the price is quickly put into perspective once you understand the concept behind it.
How the NN/g UX Certification functions
The NN/g UX Certification consists of a series of online seminars attended in English, including exams taken.The NN/g UX Certification is obtained after 5 seminars (approx. 5,200 euros), the NN/g UX Master Certification (approx. 15,700 euros) after 15 seminars.
The Trainings
You can choose from a wide range of seminars. For example, there are seminars on the topics of "Usability Testing", "UX Strategy" or "Information Architecture". The topics are all exciting and relevant for most UX professionals in their day-to-day work.
It is possible to specialize on one of the following topics: Interaction, Research and Management. For example, if you take 5 courses from the Interaction area, the NN/g UX Certification receives a reference to this specialization. However, this is voluntary - you can also take courses from different areas.
The seminars usually take place monthly during a specific period, either as a two-day half-day seminar (from 5 to 8:30 p.m. German time) or a one-day full-day seminar (from 5 to midnight). Due to the time difference compared to California, the half-day seminars are generally more convenient for German participants.
The Exams
The online exam must then be taken within 35 days of the seminar. It is advisable to take this directly within a week of the seminar. The exams last 60 minutes, consist of 30 multiple choice questions and 80% of the answers must be correct in order to pass. The result will be sent to you by e-mail within a few minutes after the exam.
The Costs
A seminar costs around 1070 euros, the exam 75 euros. If you register about a month in advance, you can benefit from an early bird discount (savings of approx. 90 euros). Or you can book several seminars at once, in which case you will receive a 10% discount on each seminar.
3 good reasons for the NN/g UX Certification
From my point of view, the following three reasons in particular speak in favor of NN/g UX Certification.
1. Practical learning content with theoretical background knowledge
The Nielsen Norman Group and its founders Jakob Nielsen and Don Norman have done pioneering work in the field of user experience design. No wonder that the highly competent seminar leaders generally have a sound theoretical background and a lot of practical experience from their day-to-day work at NN/g and can pass this on. Even if tips for professional practice are the main focus of the seminars, theoretical backgrounds are always explained in a well-dosed manner. A very successful mix that ensures that you leave every seminar with a boost of motivation for your day-to-day work and new insights.
2. Entertaining Trainings
The 7- or 3.5-hour seminars usually fly by. The mixture of theoretical content, practical relevance and short exercises in small groups ensure that you stay focused.
The instructors lead the course in a very friendly, humorous manner and with a few anecdotes from the field. Open questions are always answered. The slides and learning material are also very lightweight. This makes learning fun.
3. Flexible and fair concept
I think the concept of the NN/g UX Certification is very fair, also because of its high flexibility. Around 15,000 euros for the NN/g Master Certification sounds a lot, but you should bear in mind that the seminars do not have to be attended within a certain period of time. Basically, you can attend courses for years (and decades) so that they "accumulate" over time. So if you attend one or more NN/g seminars every year in your professional life, you will automatically receive the NN/g UX Master Certification at some point. Of course, this is not a concept for those in a hurry.
It is also worth mentioning that the exams are very fair. You have a total of three attempts, you are allowed to use the training materials during them and the questions are very clear. So you don't have to be afraid of the exams, they are quite doable.
In these cases the NN/g UX Certification might not be the right choice for you
In the following cases you might not become happy with the NN/g UX Certification:
- If you're just starting out and want to learn the basics of UX. For this, I would rather recommend a standardized training course with coherent topics or a common thread. It is worth investing time in a solid, theoretical foundation, especially at the beginning. A 30-hour course is no substitute for a Bachelor's or Master's degree. If you are looking for degree courses, take a look here: Study User Experience Design in Germany: Here it is possible If you don't want to go to university straight away, but would like basic UX training, the CPUX-F certification may also be of interest to you. More on this in the next point.
- The NN/g UX Certification is very well known in the UX circle and enjoys a certain reputation. However, if you would like to obtain a certificate that is officially recognized in Germany, have a look at the CPUX-F Certification: CPUX-F: Why the Certification makes sense
- If you want to collect practical experience. With the NN/g UX Certification, there are no extensive practical projects to consolidate your knowledge.
- The seminar leaders speak very clearly, as the participants usually come from all corners of the world. But if you find the English language very difficult, this could be a hurdle.
Conclusion
It's probably easy to read out, but to make it clear once again: I'm a big fan of the NN/g seminars. Whether you attend them in order to obtain the NN/g UX Certification or simply want to continue your training on an individual basis is not really important. The seminars are practical, theoretically sound and, precisely because of their thematic diversity, always provide new impulses and ideas, even for experienced professionals. I can therefore give a clear answer, especially over several years of professional experience: The NN/g UX seminars are definitely worth the money 🙂
Further information
You can find more information about the NN/g UX Certification directly on the website of the Nielsen Norman Group:
