Walkthrough and Heuristics Evaluations
Why Walkthroughs and Heuristics Evaluations are Needed
They are used to:
- Identify the specific areas of a product or web site that conform to usability guidelines.
- Identify the specific areas of a product or web site that could prove troublesome for users.
- Identify possible reasons for the potential problems based on usability guidelines.
- Foster consistency, which contributes to users’ sense of coherence, helps direct attention to what is important, and reduces distractions caused by irrelevant information.
- Promote good functionality and navigation.
- Prepare for laboratory user testing.
When Walkthroughs and Heuristics Evaluations are Used
Walkthrough and Heuristics Evaluations are done primarily in:
Phase 2 (Demonstration and Validation) and Phase 3 (Detailed Description and Construction) of the product development life cycle.
How Walkthroughs and Heuristics Evaluations are Performed
They are done by expert evaluators, trained in usability guidelines:
- Independently identifying problems and matching each problem to the usability guideline that it violates. When all evaluators are finished, results are combined, and the problems are rated according to severity.
- Conducting a minimum of two reviews of the interface. The first is a static evaluation to rate each screen separately. The second is a dynamic test that evaluates the flow and navigational concerns across multiple screens.
