MethodsHeuristic evaluation
What
A quick way to find common, large usability problems on a website.
Why
To quickly identify common design problems that make websites hard to use without conducting more involved user research.
How to do it
- Recruit a group of three to five people familiar with heuristic evaluation methods.
- Evaluators do not necessarily need to be designers, but they should be familiar with common usability best practices.
- Ideally, they are not users or overly familiar with the site being evaluated.
- Provide a set of recognized heuristics for the group to evaluate the site against.
- The most common resource is 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design from Nielsen Norman Group.
- The checklist for Play 3: Make it simple and intuitive from the Digital Services Playbook is also a good resource.
- Have each person evaluate the website using the provided heuristics and document problems.
- Optionally, have them capture a severity level and potential solution (if apparent) for each problem.
- Review the data and prioritize problems to address.
Additional resources
- “10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design.” Jakob Nielsen.
- “How to Conduct a Heuristic Evaluation.” Jakob Nielsen.
- “Play 3: Make it simple and intuitive.” Digital Services Playbook.
- Heurio. A tool for conducting expert reviews of live sites.
Considerations for use in government
No PRA Implications, as heuristic evaluations usually include a small number of evaluators. If conducted with nine or fewer members of the public, the PRA does not apply, 5 CFR 1320.5(c)4. If participants are employees, the PRA does not apply. See the methods for Recruiting and Privacy for more tips on taking input from the public.