ISTQB Usability qualification - Does anyone know of useful books that can be used as study for this?

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Hello,

As the leader of my team, I am exploring the possibility of having us obtain the ISTQB Usability certification as one of our objectives for the upcoming year. I am aiming for a cost-effective approach by opting for the exam only, without the training course, and supplementing our preparation with an approved book.

In my experience with other ISTQB exams (such as Foundation, Intermediate in software testing, Test Management, etc.), there has typically been a designated book to aid in preparation for the qualification. However, I am currently having difficulty finding an equivalent resource for the ISTQB Usability exam. I’ve taken note of the references in the syllabus, and one book I found is ‘Usability Testing Essentials’ by Carol Barnum, but I am uncertain if it will effectively prepare us for the exam.

We are based in the UK, and my search for providers offering training with the exam did not yield any results. Hence, I am leaning towards the exam-only option.

Does anyone know of a book that would be ideal as preparation for the ISTQB Usability exam? Any recommendations or insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

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While I haven’t take the ISTQB Usability exam and I’m unfamiliar with the course syllabus, there’s one book on usability that jumps out immediately.

Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited by Steve Krug.

Unsure, like the other book you mention, that it’ll prepare you for the exam yet worth checking out if not on your radar.

Good luck with the exam – if you end up taking it – and let us know how you get on.

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Thanks for the recommendation - I will look into this.
I will keep you updated :slight_smile:

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I’m curious, what are you hoping to accomplish by having your team obtain this certification? What is your goal?

What has your team gained by taking the previous ISTQB certifications?

Might there be alternative ways to fulfill your actual goal that don’t involve this particular certification?

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I have always found the books recommended for ISTQB courses to not be helpful at all. Best preparation is reading and learning the syllabus they provide on their website for free.
Courses are expensive, but personally I always got so much out of them. They can be a great team experience while also getting to know other testers.

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Well, the team I lead is CXQA (customer experience quality assurance) - A concept that we have brought in less than 2 years and our goal is elevate and validate the quality of all customer interactions to ensure optimum customer experience is being achieved - That breaks down to a hybrid of System integration testing followed by managing Pilot/field trials where we split our personas and validate not just that the product does what it should, but the whole delivery of that product is correct i.e. does the help contain the right information or direct to a place with the answers? The operational process when live, ensuring that is mapped out and can be followed, are there any improvements etc

We feel that this role does not necessarily exist in the market, and everyone we have brought in has functional manual testing as backgrounds - so to develop that further, I was keen to add something that our team does not have that might help us carry out these pilots which is rooted to ISTQB - Usability was the first area that came to mind

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Super interesting, @nwheelhouse. Thanks for sharing.

I know @alg has been doing close things with customer experience/service people at his workplace. Perhaps he might be in a position to add some thoughts here.