Expert/Heuristic Evaluations

Expert or heuristic evaluation refers to the systematic inspection of a user interface design for usability, typically by more than one usability expert. Using a checklist of usability principles (or heuristics) as a guide, each interface screen and hardware component is evaluated according to how well it satisfies each principle. The severity of the violations is assessed and recommendations to address design issues are provided.

Examples of usability heuristics used in the evaluation include visibility, convention and metaphor, autonomy, consistency, standards, error prevention, recognition diagnostics and recovery, flexibility, efficiency, aesthetics, accessibility and help.