Usability Heuristic Evaluation

A 'heuristic' is a general guideline or conclusion that aids in an investigaton or analysis of something. A heuristic evaluation in usability, therefore, is when a group of usability experts evaluate your site's usability against a list of accepted guidelines and commonly accepted principles.

If you don't have the resources to hire usability experts, you could conduct the heuristic evaluation on your own site. It's not an ideal solution but any evaluation is far better than none at all.

Here are fifteen Web site usability heuristics (in alphabetical order):

7.1. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design
7.2. Consistency and Standards
7.3. Error Prevention and Recovery
7.4. Flexibility and Efficiency of Use
7.5. Help and Documentation
7.6. Inverted-Pyramid Style of Writing
7.7. Match the Web Site to the Real World
7.8. Minimize Download and Response Times
7.9. Protect Users' Work
7.10. Readability
7.11. Real World Conventions
7.12. Recognition Rather Than Recall
7.13. Scannable Text
7.14. User Control and Freedom
7.15. Visibility of Web site Status

Aesthetic and Minimalist Design >>>