Whats Involved In Heuristic Evaluation?
In this technique, a number of evaluators are first introduced to the heuristics, then given some tasks to complete and invited to report the problems – where the system fails to comply with the heuristics – either verbally or in some form of written report or checklist. Unlike many forms of usability testing, the evaluators do not have to be representative of the system’s expected users (although they can be!), nor do the evaluators have to be experts, as the heuristics can be read and understood in a few minutes. Just three to five evaluators are needed to find the majority of usability problems, so the technique is quite efficient and inexpensive. The problems found in heuristic evaluation essentially represent subjective opinions about the system. Evaluators will frequently disagree (there are no absolute right or wrong answers) but these opinions are useful input to be considered in interface design.
