Validate
Heuristic Evaluation
Inspecting a design against a set of usability principles to find likely problems.
What is Heuristic Evaluation?
Inspecting a design against a set of usability principles to find likely problems.
What you learn
Name the problem and the principle it breaks.
When it helps
you need a quick usability check before testing, or reviews are too vague to use.
Use it at work
- Choose a set of principles, such as Nielsen’s 10 usability heuristics.
- Inspect each screen against each principle.
- Have three to five people review on their own, then merge what they found.
- Record each problem, where it is, and which principle it breaks.
- Rate how severe each one is, and fix the worst first.
Your output
Review one screen against a short list of usability principles. For each problem, write what will go wrong, the principle, and how serious it is.
Watch for
Giving vague opinions instead of specific problems.
Related practices
Sources
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