Corresponding to the increasing demands for human resource development in the industry, this study intends to empirically clarify a set of competence required for usability professionals. This is to contribute to the promotion of efforts in educational institutions like universities and industrial firms. The concept of usability professionals' competence, which was learned by the semi–structured interviews for usability–related industries, was analyzed by industry–wide surveys. The study had resulted in the third version of the list of competence currently needed for usability professionals in Japan, which composed of seven categories with 60 items. The list covers all aspects of the competence at multiple levels, from primitive abilities to practical activities. It also shows how much of audience supported each competence. By comparing the list to the lists proposed in other studies, the characteristics and the way of utilization of the competence list created by this empirical approach were clarified.

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