Human Factors International

What Human Factors International does

Human Factors International (HFI) is a privately held UX consulting and training firm founded in 1981 and headquartered in Fairfield, Iowa. Operating as what it terms a 'Customer Experience Integrator' (CXI), HFI serves Fortune 500 enterprise clients across banking, telecommunications, retail, medical, entertainment, government, and education verticals, and has delivered over $256 million in cumulative CX work for these clients. The firm maintains offices in the United States, India (Mumbai and Puducherry), Singapore, the United Kingdom, and South Africa, with India functioning as a 25-year-old near-shore delivery hub.

HFI's core technology is the proprietary HFI Framework, an ISO-certifiable user-centered design process co-developed by founder and CEO Dr. Eric Schaffer and grounded in human-computer interaction, ergonomics, psychology, computer science, and marketing. Complementary methodologies include Persuasion Engineering, which applies behavioral research to conversion outcomes. The firm also markets UX Enterprise, an enterprise software platform (Version 7.0) for managing, reusing, and budgeting UX operations, and runs two flagship certification programs: CUA (Certified Usability Analyst) and CXA (Certified User Experience Analyst). To date, HFI has certified 7,956 professionals and taught 249 courses in 2019 alone.

HFI monetizes primarily through professional services: UX consulting engagements (audits, strategy, design, persuasion engineering, instant UX team staffing, solution delivery), public and on-site training and certification courses, and the UX Enterprise software platform. Distribution is direct enterprise sales supported by content marketing (white papers, videos, executive seminars). Revenue figures are not disclosed, and the firm is founder-owned with no known institutional funding.

Name

Human Factors International

Legal name

Human Factors International, Inc.

Website

https://humanfactors.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Human Factors International is a privately held UX consulting and training firm founded in 1981 that serves Fortune 500 enterprise clients across banking, telecom, retail, medical, government, and education through its proprietary HFI Framework methodology, certification programs, and UX Enterprise software.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

UX Consulting and Training Services

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Computer Training (611420), Human Resources Consulting Services (541612)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Customer Experience (CX) & Digital Experience (BPAHAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Learning Experience Design (LXD) & UX for Learning (EDAGAKAF), Brand Experience (BX) & Service Design (BPAFAEAI), UX, Design Thinking & Customer Research for PMs (EDABAHAK)

Keywords

• UX consulting services
• User experience design
• UX training certification
• Persuasion engineering
• UX maturity programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Fairfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. UX Consulting Services: Professional consulting engagements including UX audits, strategy and innovation, design projects, and solution delivery. Delivered over $256,000,000 in CX work for Fortune 500 clients.
2. Training and Certification: Professional UX training programs including CUA (Certified Usability Analyst) and CXA (Certified User Experience Analyst) certification courses. The world gold standard in professional UX training with 183 CUA courses and 297 classes taught in 2017.
3. Team Staffing Services: Dedicated UX staff members provided to clients for specified periods. Offering of 2 dedicated UX staff members for five months at $47,500.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

HFI delivers professional UX consulting services including UX audits, strategy and innovation, design projects, persuasion engineering, and team staffing to enterprise clients. The company also provides CUA and CXA certification training programs for UX practitioners, alongside the UX Enterprise software platform for managing UX operations. All offerings are built on the proprietary HFI Framework, an ISO-certifiable user-centered design methodology co-developed by founder Dr. Eric Schaffer.

Product overview

Human Factors International (HFI) operates as a Customer Experience Integrator (CXI) offering a portfolio of consulting services and enterprise software. The core offerings include UX consulting services (UX Audit and Certification, Strategy and Innovation, Design Project, Persuasion Engineering, Instant ON Mature UX Team, Solution Delivery and Maintenance), professional training and certification programs (CUA and CXA), and the UX Enterprise enterprise software platform for managing UX operations. The company also provides whitepapers and educational resources on UX maturity, digital transformation, and futurist design trends. Services are delivered globally across offices in the US, India, Singapore, UK, and South Africa.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• UX Enterprise Enterprise software platform that enables organizations to showcase, reuse, manage, and budget UX operations. Includes Version 7.0 with tools for managing design standards and workflows.
• CUA (Certified Usability Analyst) Training and Certification

Quantifiable outcome

• Persuasion research helped increase conference attendees by 97% year on year
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• General Assembly: General Assembly (now part of Adecco) offers tech and design bootcamps, short-form certifications, and corporate training. It overlaps with HFI's CUA/CXA training and certification revenue stream, particularly for individual practitioners and corporate L&D buyers.
• UserTesting: UserTesting is a SaaS platform for on-demand human insight and usability testing. While a tooling vendor rather than a consultancy, it competes with HFI's UX audit and research services by enabling enterprise teams to self-serve parts of the UX research workflow HFI historically delivered as a service.
• Interaction Design Foundation: The Interaction Design Foundation is a low-cost, online UX education and certification provider. It competes with HFI's CUA/CXA programs on accessibility and price, particularly for individual UX practitioners who might otherwise pursue HFI's certification.

Direct peers

• Cooper (Cooper Professional): Cooper is a UX strategy and product design consultancy famous for inventing the 'persona' methodology. It competes head-to-head with HFI on enterprise UX strategy, design, and training, serving similar Fortune 500 buyers with a comparable methodology-led pitch.
• Nielsen Norman Group: NN/g is the most direct competitor to HFI, offering UX research, consulting, and a portfolio of UX certification training courses (UX Certification, UX Master Certification). Both firms serve enterprise clients with methodology-driven UX training and consulting anchored by a founder authority figure (Don Norman / Jakob Nielsen vs. Eric Schaffer).
• IDEO: IDEO is a pioneering design and innovation consultancy that, like HFI, serves Fortune 500 clients with human-centered design, CX strategy, and product design. Both firms share a founder-led, methodology-anchored approach to enterprise design transformation and overlap heavily on banking, retail, and government clients.
• Frog Design: Frog (now part of Capgemini Invent) is a global design and engineering consultancy serving enterprise clients on CX, digital product design, and brand experience — overlapping substantially with HFI's consulting and design project offerings across industries.

Broad incumbents

• McKinsey Design (McKinsey & Company): McKinsey Design is the design and customer experience practice within McKinsey, serving C-suite clients on CX strategy and design-led transformation. It competes with HFI at the very top of the enterprise market where HFI sells its 'executive leader in UX' seminars and UX maturity programs.
• Designit (a Wipro company): Designit, acquired by Wipro, is a global strategic design firm offering UX, service design, and brand experience to enterprise clients. It is comparable to HFI as a broader, well-capitalized competitor with multi-region delivery and similar Fortune 500 vertical focus.
• IBM iX (IBM Consulting Experience Design): IBM iX is the design and experience practice within IBM Consulting, offering CX strategy, design, and digital transformation services to enterprise clients. It competes with HFI for the same digital-transformation budgets and CX maturity engagements at large enterprises.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/humanfactors
• Facebookfacebook.com/humanfactorsinternational
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/164241

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Human Factors International