Last Saturday I joined 15 other usability professionals and graduate students to learn about and work on the Usability Body of Knowledge. The all-day work session was led by Carol Smith, Director of Education and Training, Treasurer of the Usability Professionals’ Association and graciously hosted by Tec-Ed in Ann Arbor.

Though I had to leave early, I had a great time working with the people on my team, updating one of the sections in the Body of Knowledge. If you’ve ever discussed:

• Usability techniques
• How to conduct user testing
• Best practices for designing interfaces

and who involved with usability hasn’t? …you can contribute to the Usability Body of Knowledge.

What is a Body of Knowledge?

If you aren’t familiar with a “Body of Knowledge,” abbreviated BoK (pronounced “bock”), it’s a collection of standards and guidelines that form the foundation for a profession.

Perhaps the best known BoK is the PMBoK, the Project Management Body of Knowledge. I first heard about PMBoK ten years ago when my husband was studying for his Project Management Professional exam.

The guidelines and standards in a BoK are intended to be industry neutral; any professional can use the guidelines across industries.

As Carol explained, the Usability BoK:

• Primary audiences are usability and user experience practitioners
• Represents a broad consensus, not just one individual’s opinion
• Is not a repository for everything, but will point to other respected resources

How is the Usability BoK Organized?

There are three distinct areas in the BoK:

1. Methods
2. Design
3. Managing UX

How Can I Get Involved?

The Body of Knowledge is a work in progress, and will continue to grow with the contributions of dozens of people. If you’re a member of the Usability Professionals’ Association, volunteer to review, update and add new content to the Usability Body of Knowedge.

Have questions about the BoK or want to organize a BoK working session? Contact Carol Smith by email: carol at mw-research dot com.