Finding and fixing problems is a core activity of much of UX research (similar to identifying and preventing software bugs and product defects). The problems found while users attempt tasks are often broadly referred to as UI problems because the friction points tend to involve issues that blur the lines between bugs, functional deficits, and
Methods evolve and adapt. The same is true of UX methods that have evolved from other methods, often from disparate fields and dating back decades. The usability profession itself can trace its roots to the industrial revolution. The think aloud protocol, one of the signature methods of usability testing, can trace its roots to psychoanalysis,
Expert reviews aren’t’ a substitute for usability testing and don’t provide metrics for benchmarking. But they are an effective and relatively inexpensive way to uncover the more obvious pain points in the user experience. Expert reviews are best used when you can’t conduct a usability test or in conjunction with insights collected from observing even
It’s been 25 years since the development of the Heuristic Evaluation—one of the most influential usability evaluation methods. It’s cited as one of the most-used methods by practitioners. Yet its co-creator, Rolf Molich, had recently said it was “99% bad.” To understand what would drive such a comment, you need to understand the history and
It’s a question that’s been around since Nielsen and Molich introduced the discount usability method in 1990. The idea behind discount usability methods, like heuristic evaluations in particular and expert reviews in general, is that it’s better to uncover some usability issues –even if you don’t have the time or budget to test actual users.
Heuristic evaluations are one of the “discount” usability methods introduced over 20 years ago by Jakob Nielsen and Rolf Molich. In theory, a heuristic evaluation involves having a trained usability expert inspect an interface with compliance to a set of guiding principles (heuristics), such as Nielsen’s 10 heuristics. In practice, most expert reviews of an
There isn’t a usability thermometer to tell us how usable an interface is. We observe the effects and indicators of bad interactions then improve the design. There isn’t a single silver bullet technique or tool which will uncover all problems. Instead, practitioners are encouraged to use multiple techniques and triangulate to arrive at a more
Heuristic Evaluations and Cognitive Walkthroughs belong to a family of techniques called Inspection Methods. Inspection methods, like Keystroke Level Modeling, are analytic techniques. They don’t involve users and tend to generate results for a fraction of the time and cost as empirical techniques like usability testing. They are also referred to as Expert Reviews because
A Heuristic evaluation is a process where someone trained in usability principles reviews an application (a website or software). She compares the website against a set of guidelines or principles (“Heuristics”) that tend to make for more usable applications. For example, if while completing a task a user gets a message that says “Error 1000xz
