One of the easiest usability tests to employ has been the heuristic evaluation, made popular by usability advocate Jacob Nielsen. His top-ten evaluation criterion has the basis for all testing of this sort since the late 90s.
Heuristic evaluation is a systematic inspection of a user interface for design flaws that may hinder someone’s experience with your site or application.
Recently, I had completed an evaluation for a large Toronto area company. I was asked if I was going to use Jacob’s list. My reply was, “of course not”. That wasn’t to discount the importance of his list. But online user experiences have evolved into much more complex beings than before. An assessment only looking at this finite list must ignore everything else that goes into a positive user experience.
Besides looking for design flaws that maybe the cause for usability issues, this level of inspection must also uncover other issues that affect the user experience more than just usability:
Branding & Design
- Is the brand relevant to your audience?
- Does it convey credibility and trust with your users?
- Does the creative resonate with your users? Or convey what it needs to?
- Does the creative hinder the usefulness of the site?
- Is it worth talking about?
Content
- Is the content appropriate for your audience? Is it easy to read and comprehend?
- Does it effectively convey what your audience is looking for or what they need to do?
- Is it of value or useful to the user?
- Is it supportive?
Navigation
- Are the navigation systems intuitive and easy to use?
- Can they find what they’re looking for?
- Can they quickly see where they are? Or where they’ve been?
- Can they search?
Forms & Applications
- Does the design of forms and applications follow usability best practices and conventions for good design?
- Are the applications easy to learn and use?
- Can a user complete a task error free? Can a user easily correct themselves?
- Is the length and complexity appropriate? Could it frustrate users and persuade them to leave?
Call-to-Actions
- Is it clear what your audience can do?
- Does the site engage and motivate action?
Accessibility
This is very important from two perspectives.
- Can all users access the information on the site? Or does the design hinder access to information or the completion of relevant tasks?
- Can users access your content from search engines, other web sites or devices?
