The relevance of the 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design
A heuristic evaluation is a usability inspection method mainly used to identify any design issues associated with the user interface.
Jakob Nielsen’s heuristics are probably the most-used usability heuristics for user interface design.
They are called “heuristics” because they are broad rules of thumb and not specific usability guidelines.
Evaluating the UI against these principles allows you to objectively assess a design. Plus, it serves as documentation, which can help you gain buy-in from stakeholders. Below are the top 10 usability heuristics you should refer to next time you’re auditing a website or product.
- Visibility of system status
2. Match between the system and the real world
3. User control and freedom
4. Consistency and standards
5. Error Prevention
6. Recognition rather than recall
7. Flexibility and Efficiency of use
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design
9. Helps users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors
10. Help and documentation
How to Conduct a Heuristic Evaluation
- Establish an appropriate list of heuristics.
- Select your evaluators.
- Brief your evaluators.
- First evaluation phase.
- Second evaluation phase.
- Record problems.
- Debriefing session.