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Heuristic Evaluation

An agreed-upon set of usability best practices used to evaluate an interface

  • Heuristic evaluation is a usability inspection method that asks evaluators to assess an interface against a set of agreed-upon best practices or usability “rules of thumb.”
  • Unlike usability tests with actual users, these evaluations enlist team members to inspect and fix baseline usability problems before user testing.
  • When heuristics are applied repeatedly during an iterative design process, the principles will become more intuitive and usability problems easier to detect.
  • Novices trained on heuristics and evaluators familiar with the subject and usability practices conduct evaluations.
  • The method can help detect critical but missing dialogue elements early in the design process, as well as heuristics that are working well.
  • When used in the middle phases of the design process, even with low-fidelity prototypes, evaluations can make later usability tests more effective.

See alsoCognitive WalkthroughEvaluative ResearchPrototyping

A sample of Nielsen’s original ten heuristics, adapted and applied to iPhone apps.

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Aesthetic and minimalist design

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Flexibility and efficiency of use

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Error prevention

Heuristics adapted for the iPhone based on work of Suzanne Ginsburg

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