Usability reviews - Types of usability reviews
16 important questions on Usability reviews - Types of usability reviews
What is commonly combined with an expert usability review and why?
What's the purpose of a heuristic?
The purpose of a heuristic is to provide reliable and useful guidance to a reviewer during the usability evaluation of a software product.
Name the ten heuristics according to Jakob Nielsen.
- Visibility of system status
- Match between system and the real world
- User control and freedom
- Consistency and standards
- Error prevention
- Recognition ratherthan recall
- Flexibility and efficiency of use
- Aesthetic and minimalist design
- Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
- Help and documentation
- Higher grades + faster learning
- Never study anything twice
- 100% sure, 100% understanding
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I was struggling to finish all my first-year subjects for 3 years. Then I discovered Study Smart, which helped me to finish all of them within 3 months.
Because of StudySmart, things are going well in many ways. Before, I always had study stress and no time for anything. Now I feel calm and confident (because of the program). I used to score a B, now I usually score an A or A+.
Hey Chris, I really want to thank you very much for developing the platform, I usually got around C for my exams, now I scored an A+, an A and a A- !!
Since using Study Smart, my average has increased significantly. I even completed a statistics course with a A+ while I'm bad at statistics. I took on extra courses this year, because of Study Smart. Thanks so much!
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Students that study with Study Smart get better grades. The system applies all the learning methods in such a way that both well-performing students and students who struggle perform much better.
Hi Chris, I would like to thank you very much. Last year I scored C on a course, and this year I got an A+ thanks to your method! Thank you very much!
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In high school, I failed several exams, and that has really changed now. I actually needed this tool very much back then. Since I started studying with StudySmart, I haven't had any D's. My average score is now an A and those are results I would have never had in the past
With my old method, I passed only 3 out of 8 courses. Since I started taking my notes digitally in Study Smart, I have passed all my courses on the first try. For me, StudySmart takes away the stress of wondering if I will pass or not.
Thanks to StudySmart, I passed all my exams, and with better grades than before! On top of that, I have mastered a very good study method now, which I am confident will help me earn my degree.
What's the description of heuristic: Visibility of system status?
The system should always keep users informed about what is going on by providing appropriate feedback within reasonable time
What's the description of heuristic: Match between system
and the real world?
The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases
and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms.
Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.
What's the description of heuristic: User control and freedom?
Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a
clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support “undo” and “redo” functions.
What's the description of heuristic: Consistency and standards?
Users should not need to consider whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.
What's the description of heuristic: Error prevention?
Even better than providing good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.
What's the description of heuristic: Recognition rather
than recall?
Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and
options visible. The user should not have to remember information
from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.
What's the description of heuristic: Flexibility and efficiency of use?
Accelerators which are often not noticed by the novice user may
speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system cancater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
What's the description of heuristic: Aesthetic and minimalist design?
Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.
What's the description of heuristic: Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors?
Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes),
precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.
What's the description of heuristic: Help and documentation?
Even though it is better if the system can be used without
documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and
documentation. Any such information should be easy to search,
focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.
What are the risk involved heuristic evaluation?
- Heuristic evaluation requires the reviewers to make judgments by comparing a software application to a limited set of heuristics. Usability issues are often complex and cannot always to be represented in a limited set of heuristics.
- Heuristics cannot take context of use into account. This can make judgment difficult.
- It is relatively easy to apply an incorrect approach to heuristic evaluation.
- Heuristics are designed to be compact, and interpreting them correctly requires some experience.
How can the risk 'Heuristics are designed to be compact, and interpreting them correctly requires some experience' be addressed?
Reviewers must fully understand the heuristics they will be applying before the heuristic evaluation commences.
They must avoid the temptation to create their own set of
heuristics, which may not meet the “recognized” and “comprehensible” criteria of Nielsen.
How can the risk 'It is relatively easy to apply an incorrect approach to heuristic evaluation' be adressed?
The correct approach is to let the heuristics drive the heuristic evaluation and to only report findings that can be directly attributed to one of the heuristics.
If findings are reported that are not linked to a heuristic they may still be valuable, (especially if found by a usability expert), but they are the product of an informal or expert usability review rather than an heuristic evaluation.
The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:
- A unique study and practice tool
- Never study anything twice again
- Get the grades you hope for
- 100% sure, 100% understanding
