Heuristic evaluation

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The heuristic evaluation ( heuristic - from Greek heuriskein “ to find”) is a method of formatively assessing the usability of a user interface (i.e. before the overall system is completed).

In the method described by Jakob Nielsen and other usability experts, a small group of usability experts ("evaluators"; n = 5) try to use a list of heuristics to find as many potential usability problems as possible that real users might later have .

This is not about a quantitative recording of usability problems, but rather about recording or recognizing them in the first place. For example, if an expert evaluates the search function of an application as problematic, e.g. If, for example, it is not self-explanatory, but the other experts are not, this is still recorded as a problem in the evaluation. Because a problem area itself has nevertheless been identified.

The list of references to usability problems is then assigned to the heuristics so that a problem classification is possible that allows meta-statements, for example that the system does not support the user adequately or is fault-tolerant.

The list of tips is then prioritized with regard to the need to remedy the usability problems that emerge (from “cosmetic problem” to “ usability disaster”). The heuristic evaluation thus not only provides abstract scale values, but also concrete information on improving the usability of system prototypes / demonstrators.

Another advantage of the heuristic evaluation is that - as it is carried out by experts - it can be used at any point in development, from the first prototype to the finished product. In addition, this method is very inexpensive and inexpensive to use, so that it is one of the most frequently used methods of usability evaluation alongside usability tests .

Disadvantages of the application relate to its properties as an expert procedure: Usability experts are not users, ie they have little knowledge of the context of the actual application (domain expertise). Therefore, the method mainly provides rule-based and no experience-based indications of usability problems, the latter usually having more serious effects on the user.

Therefore, the heuristic evaluation should not be understood as a substitute for usability tests with real users, but rather as a supplement in advance.

literature

  • Jakob Nielsen: Usability Engineering. Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco 1994.
  • F. Sarodnick, H. Brau: Methods of Usability Evaluation - Scientific Basics and Practical Application. Hans Huber, Bern 2006.
  • Miriam Eberhard-Yom: Usability as a success factor. Cornelsen Verlag Berlin, 2010.