Quick Understanding: Heuristic Evaluation

Fully understanding the usability of a site or application requires thorough, detailed heuristic evaluations. These evaluations give you information and lists that can improve the user interface significantly. The information and lists provided will compare your interface with existing guidelines, seeing where you stand and how you compare. By following these guidelines and building an interface that works with them, you can appeal to a wider audience and limit risks. It is one of the smartest things that any developer can do, but there are a few things to keep in mind. This is not merely hiring a single professional and being done; there is a lot more to this process than you may realize.

No Evaluation, No Go

Designers and developers sometimes think that their site or application is perfect the way that it is. If it works and has the look that they want, why bother with a heuristic evaluation? After all, it is not required and, when you like what you have, why bother spending money on this? It seems like a waste to some people. Sadly, this happens all too often. It might sound smart, economically, but it ignores consumer and visitor satisfaction and experience. These are important to any business, especially a developer. The way that your site or program works, the way that it presents itself, is one of the most important pieces of success.

Going without an evaluation opens you up to risks and problems down the road. If there are any problems with the interface, even minor ones, it can turn potential consumers or visitors away. People who would otherwise like what you have to offer are now running away. This is not because the product or service is any worse; it is because the interface does not work the way they would imagine. This might sound silly, but consumers will turn away a good service or product if the “packaging” it comes in, the user interface, is complicated or broken. This is money and potential lost.

To avoid this, you have to get a heuristic evaluation performed before releasing the site or software. It is a simple, effective way to get more information on the user interface. Using the information provided will allow you to make improvements to the appearance and usability of your site. When you release it for general use, you will have limited risks and fewer concerns. You can maximize the potential of your site or software, and you can do everything with it that you want to do.

What are Heuristic Evaluations ?

Knowing they are important is not the same as knowing what they are. Being told you need something is not enough, not when it involves your money, business, and product. Luckily, heuristic evaluations are not that difficult to understand. For the most part, their purpose is straightforward.

Heuristic Evaluations are one form of usability testing. A professional or, preferably, several professionals will go through the user interface of the site or software to determine its usability. They will use every part of the site, going through everything, and then compare the interface with a set of guidelines. They will then give you information and checklists to follow, which you can then use to meet the set guidelines.

These are not legal guidelines but rather best practices. The guidelines used are a set of principles that consumers expect in any user interface. These guidelines include:

• Keep everything succinct, to the point. If it is irrelevant, it should not be there.
• Easy to understand error messages and help pages which are easy to navigate. Help pages specifically should be accessible without too much effort.
• Common language makes it simple, easy to learn, and widely understood.
• Visibility of system status as users should be given feedback on what is happening within a reasonable timescale.
• User Control and freedom understanding that users make mistakes. There should be an “emergency exit” which is easy to find and exit the current system state without having to jump through hoops. Undo and redo functions are essential.
• Consistency and standards by using words, actions, situations, etc. should always mean the same thing and users should be able to understand that.
• Error Prevention by preventing error is better than clear error messages. Eliminate error conditions or make users aware that they may be about to occur and ask them if they want to proceed.
• Recognition vs Recall by reducing the load on a user’s memory. Make actions, options, and objects visible. Users shouldn’t have to remember things from one screen to the next. Instructions should be easy to access when needed.

All guidelines are basic concepts that nearly every website and application today has adapted. They focus on the experience and satisfaction of the user, ensuring that there are few to no issues due to poor design. By following these guidelines, you can give users accessibility and usability that they expect.

Professional evaluation services use the knowledge and experience of professionals to find these flaws. On your own, finding all flaws is not always possible. You know your site or software, but you lack the expertise in usability testing. Experts can find most, if not all, of the problems. They can then give you detailed information on what is wrong and what you can do to improve it.

This knowledge extends beyond following a list. Experts can determine the usability problems without going through the set guidelines, relying only on what they read. Their experience and knowledge gives them an edge, and that can benefit you immensely. They can go through the interface, finding everything through casual and educated usage. They can then give you detailed, easy to understand information that you can put to use. Applying their information is easy to do and it can make an immense difference in your interface’s usability.

One is Not Enough

Doing this once, with just one evaluator, is not enough. No matter how good a single evaluator is, they may not find all of the problems. Using a single evaluator may leave some problems open, forcing you to do fixes after you have already released everything. This gets in the way of profits and can bring down your image with consumers. Multiple evaluators will cover as much ground as possible, avoiding the vast majority, if not all, of usability problems.

Studies prove that having more evaluators results in far greater information. You have a wide range of information that you can put to use, helping you to understand major faults and problems as well as smaller concerns that you might not have caught otherwise. The scope of information that this provides is something that you cannot get with one evaluator, regardless of that evaluator’s skills or experience. Any number of evaluators will work on the interface, all working individually. The amount of information that you get from each will cover all types of problems, both easy to fix and those that are harder.

Do keep in mind that, sometimes, too many evaluators is a thing. You want to make sure that you hire an amount that keeps the project profitable, but that can produce fantastic results. You should speak with evaluators and other professionals to determine a number that is good for your business. Remember, if you hire too many, you may end up paying more than the service is worth. The cost can outweigh the potential benefits.

When the evaluators each do their testing, another person will take and aggregate all of the information. They will look at what each evaluator has done and has to say, and they will organize all of it for you. What you get is a complete list, put together by a single individual. With this one list, you can go through what all evaluators have to say about your user interface.

Putting the information to use is easy once you have it. That part is up to you. You can begin making the necessary changes to change the user interface to what it should be. Afterwards, you can go through more testing to make sure that everything meets the standards and expectations of the consumers.

Not All Sunshine and Flowers

There is no denying that this is a necessary service. However, there are some points to keep in mind moving forward. The biggest is that this can be expensive, especially since you need multiple people. This is why you have to weigh the benefits with the costs. Figure out the right number of people for your project immediately.

As with any service, you will also have to do research into the people that you hire. This is something that you would expect to do, of course. Make sure that you speak with them at full, ask questions, and inform yourself about this service. A good choice can save you a lot of money and time.

One Step Closer

Hire evaluators for the testing right away. This is part of the process before releasing your site or software, and it is one that you must do. It does not replace normal usability testing, but heuristic evaluations give you insight and knowledge that you can put to use and that can benefit you.

Never underestimate the benefits and advantages of heuristic evaluations. Your user interface is a critical part of your success, and you should treat it as such by using evaluations and care to make it the best it can be.